More Than a Doormat

Ladies and Gentlemen, American Sense

2012-02-10T08:23:00.000-08:00

Part 35 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar – There’s a lot to like about this book – indeed, I expect it to be a much read and discussed book in 2012 (and deservedly so). Taking place predominately in the early 1980s in the suburbs of Milwaukee, the book centers on young Hayat Shah and his immersion in his Muslim faith after his mother’s best friend, Mina, comes to live with the Shah family. It’s an absolutely fascinating book – rich and complex with plenty of specific details while still encompassing universal lessons – and wonderfully engaging. That said, if this book were a gymnastics routine, Mr. Akhtar doesn’t stick the landing. The ending drops much of the book's earlier nuance in favor of speeding to a resolution. After a languorous (but never dragging) pace that allowed the story to slowly unfold, as a reader, it was jarring (and not in a good way) to get rushed to the finish line. All the same, it’s worth of a read. Highly recommended.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible! by Jonathan Goldstein – Eh. Like the idea of short stories cast as humorous modern retellings of the Bible, but there’s not enough creative spin to add some level of originality and insight to these well-known tales to make this book a worthwhile read. It’s cute and funny, but I wanted more and wish that, mixed with that humor, Mr. Goldstein had kept some of the deeper meaning of these stories. There is, after all, a reason they are well known – even if, on the face of things, the plots are a bit ridiculous. Not recommended.

Common Sense by Thomas Paine – Two thoughts about this American Revolution era pamphlet: (1) I’m pretty sure no one would take Mr. Paine seriously today. (2) After this past year, I’m so cynical about politics that, while reading this, I couldn’t stop thinking about how Mr. Paine was way off as far as what a democracy can do. All the same, recommended.

And that's all, folks!*

*Well, excluding my end of the year recap ...

Wisdom's Man

2012-02-03T21:15:00.000-08:00

Part 34 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Wisdom’s Kiss by Catherine Gilbert Murdock – I adored Ms. Murdock’s Dairy Queen series, and it’s surprising that the same author wrote Wisdom’s Kiss. It’s a sequel to Princess Ben (Ms. Murdock has stated otherwise, but since reading Wisdom’s Kiss first would give away the plot and the twists of Princess Ben, I call it a sequel). An amalgamation of fairy tale and swashbuckling adventure, Wisdom’s Kiss features eight different POVs, all written in drastically different styles – everything from a rambling, stream-of-conscious diary to a dry encyclopedia. While it’s a fun idea, the constant jumping between different styles is jarring and, as a result, it’s difficult to settle into the story. The various voices end up overpowering the narrative and characters. It’s story as told by strobe light, and it made me realize that part of Ms. Murdock’s strength as a writer is creating an engaging story out of simplicity. I hope she returns to that form in future books and leaves the excessive gimmicks to less-talented writers. Not recommended.

The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man by James Weldon Johnson – First published anonymously in 1912, this fictional autobiography of an unnamed, biracial man beautifully illustrates the reality confronting men of color in early-twentieth century America. As a story, it’s uneven – and the narrator suffers from unbelievable arrogance in places – but as a commentary on race relations, attitudes, and the inherent hypocrisy, it’s powerful. When focusing on racial issues, it’s also where Mr. Johnson is at his strongest as an author, infusing the text with an energy and nuance that’s missing in other sections. For anyone interested in race relations in America, it’s a worthwhile read. Recommended.

A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut – A series of short essays, I loved this wry, insightful little book. It’s full of smart commentary and observations accrued over eight decades of life, and I think both fans and non-fans of Vonnegut’s will enjoy it. It's part of an exclusive group of books that I consider worth reading and owning - this is a book where you skip the library and head to the bookstore. Your bookshelf will be smarter for it. Highly recommended.

Coming up: Ladies and Gentlemen, American Sense ...

Fat Glass Princess

2012-01-27T09:54:00.000-08:00

Part 33 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

The Fat Man: A Tale of North Pole Noir by Ken Harmon – An odd mixture of over-the-top noir (almost to the point of parody) and holiday cheer, I started this book loving its quirky mash of well-known holiday characters. Gumdrop Coal, the elf responsible for the Naughty List, finds himself on Santa’s bad list and embroiled in a web of intrigue following the murder of a Naughty List parent. The plot weakens as the book progresses, but the concept (elf noir!) is so unique that I was willing to overlook both that and the sometimes-uncomfortable juxtaposition of parody against a serious holiday message. That said, there was one part of this book that I couldn’t get over (minor spoiler): the book is heavy on the message of goodwill towards all and maintaining the true spirit of Christmas, but it also featured hitting a significant other as humorous. I don’t care that it was intended as cute or as a nod to traditional noir, it wasn’t funny and undermined Mr. Harmon’s message. Quasi-recommended because it is creative (with the caveat that the book is a bit of a mess).

Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock – Love the story and concept, indifferent on the execution. After her parents are killed, Princess Benevolent (Ben) is forced to live in the castle under the thumb of her controlling aunt. The story pulls in bits and pieces of classic fairy tales, but the story itself is new (although Tuesdays in the Castle, published three years after Princess Ben, has quite a few similarities to this plot). It’s a fun story, but the pacing and character development didn’t click. At several points in the book, I only realized what Ms. Murdock wanted to convey after it was over and spelled out, and Princess Ben comes across as half developed throughout large portions of the book. She’s supposed to be a girl-power, substance-over-looks heroine, but, as presented, she’s bland (other than a penchant for binge eating). Oh, and while we’re on the subject – having a teenage girl binge eat and not exercise is no more healthy than being anorexic. In short, turn off your brain and enjoy the book, because it is a fun story, even if the journey to get there makes for a bumpy ride. Recommended.

Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George – The sequel to Princess of the Midnight Ball, this book centers on Princess Poppy and her visit to her mother’s cousin in another kingdom, where she ends up embroiled in a retelling of Cinderella. Like its predecessor, Princess of Glass is Grade-A mindless fluff, although I did like the plot and characters in this book a bit more. It’s a fun spin on Cinderella. Recommended.

Coming up: Wisdom's Man ...

Shakespeare's Beastly Slippers

2012-01-20T09:37:00.000-08:00

Part 32 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner – Oh, this is a delightfully perverse book. Classified as YA and featuring cynical high school senior Shakespeare Shapiro as its protagonist, this book is definitely meant for older teens (if not adults – I’m pretty sure that if this story were a sitcom, it would be on HBO). If I had read this book as a teenager, I would have received fantastic insight into teenage boys (but been so scarred as to put off dating until my late twenties), because Shakespeare is both an incredibly smart and an incredibly hormonal narrator, which results in some truly marvelous wordplay. Now, before I continue to point out all about this book that is good, I will say the plot is not the best and the timing on some of the humor is off (drawn out in a few places and curtailed entirely too soon in others). But I don’t care. The tale of Shakespeare’s senior year and his quest to complete a required memoir is high school as done in the style of Curb Your Enthusiasm. It’s droll, creative, inappropriate, and absolutely brilliant. Highly recommended.

Glass Slippers Always Pinch by Nina Bawden - Published in 1959 and now out-of-print and difficult to find (thanks, public library, for still having an original edition!), I’m surprised this book has slipped into obscurity. Lucy is an English working-class girl determined to make something of herself, first landing a scholarship to Oxford and then netting an ambitious classmate for a husband. Life, however, does not go as planned. Lucy is an interesting protagonist – intelligent but lacking common sense, assertive but passive. She’s caught between her own ambition and the society in which she lives, and she alternates between being sympathetic and completely unlikable. I wouldn’t go so far as to say the book as written is intended as a feminist commentary, but it’s impossible to not, on some level, consider it as such. I wouldn’t say the book is perfect (it’s not), but I finished it feeling like it’s the sort of book that invites discussion, commentary, and analysis, and I’m disappointed that I seem to be the only person who thinks this. This book deserves much more than being relegated to a few dusty library shelves. Highly recommended.

Beastly by Alex Flinn – A modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast, I enjoyed it except for two things: entirely too heavy-handed in places, and I didn’t see the attraction between Kyle (the beast) and his beauty. Without that attraction, unfortunately, this fairy tale becomes a somewhat creepy story about a guy who kidnaps a girl and a girl who suffers from Stockholm Syndrome, and there’s nothing particularly magical or romantic about that. In other words, Twilight fans will probably like this book. It’s passable for a mindless weekend read, but I finished it despairing – as I sometimes do after reading YA books with seemingly unhealthy plot devices – about what sort of message this book impart to young girls. Girls, as a reminder: there is nothing romantic about being kidnapped or held against your will. I don’t care what sort of explanation the guy has. Kidnapping and imprisonment are dealbreakers. Period. No exceptions. Quasi-recommended (for readers old enough to appreciate the story without being swayed into thinking kidnapping is even sort of romantic).

Coming up: Fat Glass Princess ...

Front and Center at the Peculiar Ball

2012-01-13T12:03:00.000-08:00

Part 31 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George – A retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, this book is mindless fluff. It’s a credible addition to the modern fairy-tale genre, entertaining and predictable with the usual combination of fairy tale frippery with a dash of girl power. It’s more of a children’s book than a YA (despite how my library had it catalogued), and while I enjoyed it, it’s definitely a book where thinking ruins things. Recommended.

Front and Center by Catherine Gilbert Murdock – The final book in the Dairy Queen trilogy, I’m sad that I’ve taken my last trip to Red Bend, Wisconsin. D.J. Schwenk has become one of my favorite YA characters because, well, she’s a realistic, fun teenager. I didn’t always buy into her story (just like The Off Season, I’m not discussing plot to avoid giving things away), but her emotions and reactions completely sold me on this series. She’s a teenage girl who is still figuring things out and trying to do what’s best, but she’s also flawed in completely believable, age-appropriate ways. At the end of the day, D.J.’s story is simply the fictionalized version of normal high school life, but it’s told in a wonderfully earnest way that skips the worn-out sarcasm and dramatics in favor of meaningful character development. Highly recommended.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs – This book introduced me to a new concept: grab-bag storytelling. The hook for the book is the use of vintage photographs as part of the story. Sounds like fun, except it turns out to be a pointless gimmick that’s shoehorned in to give a dull book a unique marketing angle (I know the photos are why I decided to pick it up). The story and plot are an amalgamation of literary and film trends (hence the term grab-bag storytelling). This book reads as if designed to take advantage of as many current trends in fiction and film as possible, tweaking each device to make it “new” (but instead leaving it a pale imitation of the real deal). There is nothing creative about this book (except for the author’s decision to use vintage photographs – if the whole writing thing doesn’t work out, some company should really hire him for their marketing department). In short, this book is horrible. Sorry, that sounds harsh. Let me try again: I resent wasting my time on a book full of cheap gimmicks, soulless, cardboard characters, and a sloppy, formulaic plot. If an author can’t even take the time to give a book depth beyond what he needs to sell the film rights (this is one of those books that screams “I was written solely for the purpose of being made into a film!”), as a reader, why should I spend time trying to sugarcoat a review? Huh. That’s still harsh. Let’s just say this ranks as one of the worst books I read in 2011 and leave it at that. Not recommended.

Coming up: Shakespeare's Beastly Slippers ...

Dairy Season Tuesdays

2011-12-23T09:18:00.000-08:00

Part 30 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock – The summer after her sophomore year, fifteen-year-old D.J. finds herself, for all intents and purposes, running her family’s farm. When the quarterback from her rival high school starts helping out around the farm, D.J. begins to question her life and its trajectory. There’s a lot I didn’t like about this book – and some of the problems just struck me as plain laziness on the part of Ms. Murdock – but it’s an entertaining read, and I’m planning to check out the sequels. Recommended.

Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George – I was sold on this book in the first few pages when the magical castle created a slide so eleven-year-old Celie could get somewhere quickly. As a child, that alone would have had me in love with a book. As an adult, well, I had to turn off my brain to fully enjoy this book. The plot is fun – Celie and her brother and sister find themselves defending the castle (and, by extension, their kingdom) after their parents go missing and an evil prince tries to take over – but the overly-cutesy, light-handed treatment of political intrigue, attempted assassination, and a coup d’etat bugged me. Despite that, I did enjoy it and, yes, now I would like to live in a magic castle that randomly creates rooms and subtly evicts unwanted guests. Recommended. [ETA: About a month after I finished Tuesdays at the Castle, I read Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock. Published three years before Tuesdays, Princess Ben has many, many of the same plot details, to the point that it makes me like Tuesdays a little less, because it now strikes me as a knock off. A Morty Mouse to Mickey, if you will.]

The Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Murdock – Much like tryouts for the Red Bend High School football team, this sequel to Dairy Queen cuts the bad of the first book and improves upon the good. I liked Dairy Queen, but I adored The Off Season (and I’m skipping a plot summary to avoid giving away anything for either book). D.J.’s voice is much more consistent, and her logic and voice reminded me much more of a sixteen-year-old girl this time around. All in all, I found this one of the better YA books I’ve read in a long while. I loved that D.J.’s a girl who is more than boy and/or shopping obsessed. My biggest kvetch is with the cover of the edition I read: D.J.’s a tall, muscular athlete who can handle cows and help out around a farm without batting an eye and is secure with her body and who she is, but the cover features a svelte, size-zero model. Thanks for undercutting a great message, graphic designers. All the same, highly recommended (but read Dairy Queen first!).

Coming up: Front and Center at the Peculiar Ball ...

Strange Fire Woman

2011-12-16T11:22:00.000-08:00

Part 29 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin – One of the most important literary works of the civil rights movement, this slim book packs a punch. It’s both timelessly relevant and tied tightly to the 1960s: as a reader, I found myself both educated about the time period in which it was written and drawing parallels to modern problems. Highly recommended.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke – Upon finishing Jonathan Strange, I put the book down and fought the urge to scream. I very much wanted to scream, because I had just read an intricately crafted, imaginative 782-page book that was perfectly detailed until the last twenty pages, at which point Ms. Clarke because vague in order to set up a sequel. I have a pet peeve about books that are meant to be part of a series that are not labeled such – as a reader, I want to be able to decide whether I want to get sucked into a multi-book arc before I’ve read one of the books (especially when said books are bigger than most doorstops). But I digress. This tale of two Regency-era magicians who bring magic back to England is simultaneously something familiar and something entirely new. It’s more expansive than most historical fiction and the attention to detail is incredible (few non-fiction histories are this meticulous). Ms. Clarke weaves her magical world so carefully into reality that they seamlessly merge, to the point where her version of history seems like the real version of history. The characters and the plots are good – not the best I’ve read, but good enough to keep the book from dragging, which is no small feat for such a long story. On thing that did annoy me is that Ms. Clarke twists most of the male characters into marvelous shades of gray but woefully underutilizes the female characters (even taking into account the limitations place on women during the Regency era). All in all, the book didn’t enchant me the way I expected, but I am glad I read it and, much as I hate to admit it, I look forward to the sequel. Recommended.

I Killed Scheherazade: Confessions of an Angry Arab Woman by Joumana Haddad – Not as angry as I expected, this quasi-memoir reflects on what it means to be an Arab woman in this day and age. The entire book centers on Ms. Haddad’s life and experiences, and while she’s a pretty fascinating person, there were places in the book where I felt that her life and, by extension, her opinions and beliefs, drastically differ from those of most “average” Arab women. That’s not a knock on the book, as it is thought provoking and worth a read. It’s merely to point out that this book is not comprehensive and is more of an addition to a continuing dialogue rather than the final word. The entire book clocks in at about 150 pages, which is the perfect length for what is, at the end of the day, one woman’s opinions. Recommended.

Coming up: Dairy Season Tuesdays ...

The Remarkable Doctor and Alchemist

2011-12-09T22:46:00.000-08:00

Part 28 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho – Eh. Given the reviews and the book’s staying power, I had high expectations. Said expectations were not even partially met (and I’m usually a sucker for the motivational, inspirational stuff). I found this cloying new-age drivel rather than a genuinely moving tale. The book is a prime example of Barbara’s Ehrenreich’s point (and subtitle) in her book Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking is Undermining America – the whole ‘don’t worry, if you listen to your heart, you’ll stumble into miracles, but if you don’t, it’s probably because you don’t believe in yourself and are lazy’ message that seems positive but is really just a way to make people feel guilty for not being fabulous and rich and successful. But what drove me even more nuts (spoiler warning from here on out) was the main character’s love interest. Her “personal legacy” was to love the main character, whose goal in life was to go away from her and travel the world to find his own personal legacy. Perhaps Mr. Coelho did not intend for readers to take the following “lesson” from his book, but I did and it irked me: while men get to go off and travel and do exciting things, a woman’s destiny is to wait at home for her man to return to her (all while being so supportive). Gee, how empowering. Frankly, even if the rest of the story were great, that alone would have turned me off to this new-age babblefest. Not recommended.

Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier – Loosely based off the lives of Mary Anning, a working class fossil collector, and her lifelong friend, Elizabeth Philpot, one of three spinster sisters fascinated by fossils, this is a great example of a weak historical novel propped up by fascinating actual events. I found the plot rather dull, and the writing style is an odd mixture of stilted and modern (particularly the dialogue). The events that actually happened come across as shoehorned into a different story, especially given the author’s tendency to stuff as much modern sensibility into the story as possible (and often at the expense of actual conflict and tension). In reading about the actual history after finishing the book, I was even more frustrated by Ms. Chevalier’s fast and loose grasp of history – I’m sorry, but when it comes to historical fiction based off of real people, authors need to do more research than an elementary school primer. I read this for a book club, and while it has made for interesting discussion, I attribute that more to the history and less to the fiction. Not recommended.

Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe (Sylvan Barnet ed., 2010 edition) – Reading Elizabethan plays always strikes me as the first step of a project: without seeing it staged (caveat: by actors with the necessary skills to interpret and embrace the 16th-century dialogue), it’s impossible to fully appreciate the work. But now I really, really want to see Doctor Faustus on stage. This tale of a man selling his soul to the devil for knowledge is hopelessly quaint by modern standards. There are no massive battles or bright, shiny events. The play is small, but that’s part of what works about it. It leaves much open to interpretation, and I have a feeling I could see two different performances of it and come away feeling like I’d see two entirely different plays. A note on this edition: the essays at the end are worth skimming because they shed some light on the play itself … although I did find sections horribly pretentious (and not in a good way). Having finished Doctor Faustus, I feel like I’ve completed some necessary step to becoming a well-read individual. Recommended.

Coming up: Strange Fire Woman ...

The President and the Marathon of Time

2011-12-02T17:11:00.000-08:00

Part 27 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Marathon! by Jeff Galloway – Lots of good information but repetitive and organized in a confusing manner at times. The quality of the information – and the ease of the quick read-for-two-minutes-here-two-minutes there format – do make it worth checking out, though. Probably the best marathon / running guide I’ve read to date – Mr. Galloway makes a marathon seem attainable while throwing in a healthy dose of realism. Recommended.

The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century by Scott Miller – This is fluffy, lightweight history that reads like a novel – and I mean that in a good way. Chapters alternate between President McKinley and the big events of the period (e.g., the Spanish-American War) and Leon Czolgosz, anarchists, and the problems confronting the American working class. It’s an interesting read, and Mr. Miller does an admirable job of putting this period of American history in context without weighing it down with comparisons to modern events or too much detail. Recommended.

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey – While stuck in bed with an injury, Inspector Alan Grant begins to research Richard III and the story of the Princes in the Tower. This book is a fifteenth-century historical mystery set in the mid-twentieth century, which makes for a lot of talking and not much action. The book reminds me of Samuel Johnson’s Rasselas, another non-traditional novel that is as much about espousing a philosophy as telling a story. I enjoyed Ms. Tey’s spin on history and the unusual format and style for a mystery, but I wouldn’t go so far as to label it one of the best mysteries ever. It’s an enjoyable read that, as a warning, requires a review of the War of the Roses and its major players to fully appreciate the story (to say nothing of losing a couple hours of one's life to reading more about the mystery of the Princes in the Tower after finishing as well). Recommended.

Coming up: The Remarkable Doctor and Alchemist ...

The Magician, the Devil, and the Spy ...

2011-11-25T08:28:00.000-08:00

Part 26 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo – Orphaned Peter Augustus Duchene stumbles upon a fortuneteller who informs him that his sister is alive and an elephant will lead him to her. Thus begins a story that readers have seen before but that is so charmingly crafted by Ms. DiCamillo that I didn’t care that I knew what was going to happen. It’s the literary equivalent of a warm fire and a soft blanket on a cold winter’s night – comforting, cozy, and a tiny bit magical. Highly recommended.

The Devil and Daniel Webster by Stephen Vincent Benét – After a farmer makes a deal with the devil, he brings in a lawyer to get him out of the contract. Not as cynical as it sounds, I enjoyed this short story (and the black-and-white illustrations colored in by a young library patron with crayons). Recommended.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré – When a book is billed as one of the best spy novels of all time, I don’t expect to figure out the identity of the Russian mole (and the connected subplots) within the first hundred pages. I enjoyed parts of the book, but wow, this book is too long with entirely too many minor characters briefly introduced with lots of details I couldn’t keep straight (and I pride myself at usually being pretty good at keeping track of characters). As it is, there are so many tangents and red herrings that it makes the guilty party all the more obvious. I expected this to be a fun, engrossing novel, but it ended up feeling more like a chore that needed to be completed. I do have to tip my hat to Mr. le Carré for sketching out in wonderful, realistic detail the world of covert operations while quietly pointing out problems that the rest of the world would take almost thirty years to notice. From that standpoint, I can see why this novel enjoys the reputation it does as I find most spy novels entirely too ridiculous and adrift in fantasy, which this one is most assuredly not. I’m planning to see the upcoming film, and, much as I hate to admit it, part of me thinks I’ll enjoy the film more than book. Sacrilege, I know. Quasi-recommended.

Coming up: The President and the Marathon of Time ...

Sacred History Squad

2011-11-18T07:56:00.000-08:00

Part 25 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Sacred Stacks: The Higher Purpose of Libraries and Librarianship by Nancy Kalikow Maxwell – Interesting thesis – libraries are the secular counterparts to religious institutions – but Ms. Maxwell didn’t convince me. The research is sparse and repetitive (I read Matthew Battles’s Library: An Unquiet History – which is referenced dozens of times here – and his book alone points to many, many sources Ms. Maxwell should have cited directly). This book reminded me of an ambitious paper written by an undergraduate who does not yet possess the depth and breadth of knowledge to fully illustrate her point. As a former liberal arts college student who had an interest in religious studies, I was a bit surprised by the shallow analysis and inability to go beyond a few oft-repeated comparisons between libraries and religion (primarily churches). My gut says this is a version of Ms. Maxwell’s master’s thesis for her graduate work in theology (she already had a master’s in library science), and frankly, it concerns me that any institution would consider this work worthy of a degree. A passing grade in a 200-level religious studies course, yes, but nothing more. Not recommended.

The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia by Samuel Johnson (ed. by Thomas Keymer, Oxford World’s Classics 2009 edition) – I need to reread this book at some point. I read Rasselas as a counterpoint to Voltaire’s Candide, and while I liked Candide better, I also feel like I can’t fully judge Rasselas until I reread it at some point in the indeterminate future. There’s a lot packed into the tale of Rasselas, who is the fourth son of the King of Abissinia and unhappy with his luxurious but sheltered life. He decides to go out into the world and determine his own ‘choice of life.’ It’s a mixture of philosophy and fiction, and I’m glad I decided to read both this and Candide to contrast the two. Recommended.

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan – Not as good as the hype. This novel / short story collection hybrid is good, but there’s an underlying pretension throughout the book that drove me nuts. The story is full of carefully messed-up people leading carefully messed-up lives, leaving the ‘story’ more manufactured than natural. Think the difference between a hand-carved wooden chair and one manufactured to look hand carved. It’s entertaining – and possesses one of the best lines I’ve read in any book this year – and it’s clear that Ms. Egan is a good writer, but the book is a bit too MFA checklist for my taste. I read Daniel Kehlmann’s Fame earlier this year – it uses a similar interconnected short-story format – and something about that books clicks in a way that A Visit to the Goon Squad does not (to be fair, Fame got more mediocre reviews, and I went into it with lowered expectations). Is A Visit from the Good Squad worth a read? Yes. Will it be one of the best works of fiction you read this year? Probably not. Recommended.

Coming up: The Magician, the Devil, and the Spy ...

Animal Comedy Journal

2011-11-11T17:53:00.000-08:00

Part 24 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Comedy in a Minor Key by Hans Keilson (translated by Damion Searls) – Go google Hans Keilson. No, I’m not kidding. Go read his Wikipedia entry or one of the articles that come up about him and then come back to this review. Yeah. That’s a pretty crazy life history, right? Sort of makes you want to read his book even if it’s horrible. Good news: the book’s not horrible. In fact, I’d even say The New York Times wasn’t exaggerating when they called this book a masterpiece. During WWII, a young couple hides a Jewish man in their home and all is going well until he dies of natural causes and they have to dispose of the body. This German translation is short – the edition I read clocked in at under 140 pages – but it packs a punch. It’s deceptively simple (excluding some subtle jumps back and forth in time, which sometimes take a line or two to notice) and in that simplicity, the book resonates. Originally published in 1947 in Germany, the English translation didn’t appear until 2010, and English readers missed out on a phenomenal addition to WWII literature in those sixty years. I’ve read my share of books about WWII and, while many of them have tried, none of them have achieved the complex emotional undercurrent of Comedy in a Minor Key. I picked this book up by accident after misreading the author’s name, and it just goes to show that sometimes mistakes are very good things. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go convince as many people as possible to read this book. Highly recommended.

Bill Moyers Journal: The Conversation Continues by Bill Moyers – Wow, this book is exhausting. Good exhausting and well worth the time, but I feel like I just completed the literary equivalent of a race (this is where I will mention that, if you do decide to read this book – which you should – buy a copy and space out the reading). Comprised of interviews Mr. Moyers conducted between 2007 and 2010, the people featured in this book come from all walks of life and backgrounds and cover a variety of subjects. There’s not a bad interview in this book – some are better than others, but even the weaker ones are better than the vast majority of modern journalism. The interviews are thought provoking and surprisingly deep for the relatively few pages each take up. In around 550 pages, readers have the chance to peruse a variety of subjects and topics as discussed by intelligent, informed individuals – in a way, it’s like reading cliff notes on dozens of nonfiction books and subjects. The interviews average around 10 pages each, making this a great book to pick up and put down at a reader’s leisure. Highly, highly recommended.

Animal Farm by George Orwell – For banned book week, I decided to reread Animal Farm (I last read it in school several years ago). After reading it again, I have to ask: who expects a teenager to fully comprehend and understand this book? I definitely appreciated this hit-you-over-the-head-with-its-point story more as an adult, but wow, I’m ready for some subtlety. Mr. Orwell’s point is important, but I’m convinced this book would not be considered a classic if it were longer. All the same, glad I reread it – and glad I’m allowed to read it. Recommended.

Coming up: Sacred History Squad ...

Last Overdue Guide

2011-11-04T12:19:00.000-07:00

Part 23 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson – Some fantastic stories and interesting tidbits cannot overcome an overly present author. I expected a book about the changing world of the modern librarian. Instead I got a memoir about Marilyn Johnson researching the changing world of the modern librarian. I’m sure Ms. Johnson is a very nice person, and I certainly appreciate all of the interviews and research she did on this subject, but that’s true of the vast majority of books I read. The best chapter of the book is the one detailing the collision between the Patriot Act and libraries – partially because Ms. Johnson almost takes a backseat for the entire chapter (Also? I want some serious, non-limelight-obsessed author to give the story of the Connecticut Four a full book). In place of a solid foundation explaining librarians’ traditional responsibilities, readers have Ms. Johnson’s opinions and constant reminders of librarian stereotypes. I’d perhaps be more forgiving if the narrative was bettered organized or if Ms. Johnson had gone deeper to connect some of her stories and highlight the deeper implications. The book only briefly mentions eReaders – not surprising, given when the book was written and published – but the lack of discussion makes a book not even two years old already seem a bit outdated. I enjoyed the opportunity to peek into modern libraries and the discussions and debates driving the cataloging, collection, and preserving of information, but Ms. Johnson’s desperate need for the spotlight overwhelmed the narrative. Quasi-recommended.

The Nonrunner’s Marathon Guide for Women by Dawn Dais – I want to burn this book. I want to light a match under it and watch each page of this book go up in flames. That is how much I hate this book. I don’t like marking in books because it strikes me as somehow sacrilegious, but I want to watch this book burn. Unfortunately, it’s a library book, and there’s no way I’m paying to replace this waste of dead trees. On the one hand, Ms. Dais deserves congratulations for finding someone stupid enough to publish her inane ramblings. We should all be so lucky. To be fair, yes, parts of this book are entertaining. But the woman took over eight hours to complete a marathon – congratulations for finishing and nice job picking a marathon without a cap on official finishing times – but in what universe does that qualify her to dispense advice? Here’s a hint: it doesn’t. It didn’t take me long to realize this book was less a legitimate training guide and more of an unintentional satire. I thought that maybe it should have been labeled as such, but fine, I decided I would read it as a humorous piece. Unfortunately, Ms. Dais only has enough amusing material for, maybe, one eight-page essay. After that, it’s repetitive pessimistic whining phrased sarcastically (that the book did not end with Chipper Jen sipping a pineapple drink while leaving Ms. Dais fifty miles from civilization with no choice but to walk back with no one to listen to her whine is one of the great tragedies in modern literature). Let me save you the trouble of reading the book: I hate [spandex / sports bras / running] because I like whining. But I love [eating / Advil / my Laz-E-Boy] because I’m going to play up the couch potato angle up to an unrealistic degree. Ms. Dais then includes about ten sentences of legitimate advice over the course of the book’s two hundred pages (I’m not counting the “advice” that the vast majority of running books list in their “do not do this” sections). Oh, and the “training” schedule she includes? Not even the one she followed. Look, I don’t think everyone has to be a certified expert or a world-record holder to give advice on running a marathon, but I do expect a level of competency in a published book that couldn’t be exceeded by anyone who has run recreationally for two months and has read one legitimate training book. Someone could get better, more concise training tips by googling “how to train for a marathon” (ditto with amusing stories about running). For that matter, instead of reading this book, talk to friends and family members who either are or have been long-distance runners – they’ll probably have better advice and, as an added bonus, you get to spend time with people you like. Honestly, it disturbs me this book has such good reviews – although that might offer some insight into why so many runners end up injured every year. Not, not, not recommended.

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson – I selected this book for book club and learned an important lesson: much as one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, neither should one judge a book based off dozens of positive reviews and glowing articles. Much like The Help, I found Major Pettigrew an interesting concept with a soulless, simplistic execution. Yes, there’s witty dialogue and quirky characters, but I finished it feeling a bit like it was less a natural story and more the product of market research. This tale of an old-fashioned English gentleman meeting a widowed Pakistani shopkeeper doesn't have much of a flow and the pacing drove me batty. It’s nice to see a novel with main characters upwards of fifty (although someone needs to give Ms. Simonson the memo that 58 IS NOT OLD, and, frankly, this twenty-something was insulted by how Ms. Simonson seemed to think anyone north of fifty is ancient and already has one foot in the grave). The characters never move beyond stereotypes, leaving the family dynamics flat (in comparison, Modern Family – for all that it’s a sitcom – better captures the complexities of familial relationships). Most troubling, the ‘cultural conflict’ read like something written by 14-year-old American teenagers growing up in white-bread suburbia with 24 as their insight into Middle Eastern culture. To be fair, part of the problem (for me) was that this story felt like it belonged about thirty years earlier than it was set, and I couldn’t get over the disconnection between fiction and modern reality. I generally have a soft spot for English literature and film – and tend to perhaps be overly forgiving of their faults – but, even for me, this is one of the more lackluster efforts I’ve delved into. Not recommended.

Coming up: Animal Comedy Journal ...

Beloved Super Optimism Day ...

2011-10-28T22:30:00.001-07:00

Part 22 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Candide, or Optimism by Voltaire (translated by Theo Cuffe; Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) – Can I admit I adored this book without sounding like a pretentious snob? Because I did – it’s the sort of dry, smart satire that never fails to amuse me. The story of Candide – hapless optimist, lover of Cunégonde, and karma’s whipping boy – is light on its feet and fully of pithy wordplay that goes by so quickly it’s easy to miss. If the cover of this edition is anything to go by, Penguin intended this Candide to appeal to a younger crowd – the sort that would normally avoid the dark-and-gloomy, famous-painting covers that usually adorn classics. Assuming that’s the case, Penguin found the right translator. Mr. Cuffe created a readable, modern version of Candide that allows readers to delve into the story without taking lessons in Old English. My one complaint with this edition is that I wished they had opted for footnotes instead of endnotes. While the endnotes were remarkably helpful, having to flip back and forth occasionally interrupted the flow of the story. Regardless of the edition, though, I think most modern readers will find Candide (depressingly) relevant even today. Highly recommended.

One Day by David Nicholls – For what it is (a more cerebral, angst-filled When Harry Met Sally), I enjoyed this book. Peeking in on one day (July 15) of Emma and Dexter’s lives over two decades, I loved how Mr. Nicholls allowed these two to grow and mature. For the most part, he manages to make the one-day gimmick less constraining than I expected. He has a way with words (describing a girlfriend’s family as the Axis powers of WWII was simultaneously horrible and hilarious) that’s nimble and quick and capable of packing a lot of emotion and meaning into a few sentences. Two minor complaints: first, I hate when any sort of romantic story makes it SO BLATANTLY OBVIOUS that peripheral love interests are wrong for main characters. Make me wonder and even worry that a significant other poses an actual threat to the two main characters getting together. Two, after a sublime, near perfect first half, the second half of the book was missing something – still good but without some of the earlier depth. Overall, though, I enjoyed the story (although I’m at a loss as to why anyone would think such a thought-centric book would ever translate well onto film). Recommended.

Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton – While reading this book, I emailed a friend with the comment that I was surprised at how similar I found parts of this story to modern America. His response? “Always nice when your current home is starting to resemble apartheid-era South Africa.” I don’t want to turn this review political, but I will say I was struck (even more so after I finished this book) by the themes of this book and how relevant they are for today. The story of a black minister and a white farmer – and their unexpected connection through tragedy – begins slow, and the prose’s lyrical nature was (for this reader, at least) too much at times. To be completely honest, I spent the first hundred pages wondering why this was considered such a great book. Slowly, slowly, however, I got it, and by the end of the book, I was in awe of this beautiful story that delivers such wonderful complexities and celebrates the potential of the human spirit even when acknowledging the terrible realities of an unequal land. Highly recommended.

Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God From Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human by Grant Morrison – Fantastic concept with a shallow, dull (and not in a good way) execution. I gave up on this literary turd (and I do not use that term lightly) a little over one hundred pages in. After a decent start, the book embarked upon a downhill slide, and it was increasingly clear that Mr. Morrison was in way over his head. Maybe hardcore comic fans will enjoy this book, which is full of name checking, detailed descriptions of plots with little follow-up analysis, random opinions, and the occasional bit of melodramatic detail from Mr. Morrison’s childhood. For most people, though – especially those who possess anything beyond a rudimentary grasp of current events and twentieth century history – this book will come across as cloyingly amateur. As presented, the subject and format are undeserving of much more than a long blog post, let alone over 400 pages in print. That is what made me finally put this book down: the research and analysis are not beyond what I would expect from any old hack throwing up his opinion on the web with minimal editing. Which is frustrating, because this is a subject deserving of a detailed non-fiction account: the Skirball museum in Los Angeles put on a phenomenal exhibit on this subject in 2009 and Michael Chabon mined the real-life details for his Pulitzer Prize winning novel. But Mr. Morrison either needed a co-author (or authors) with knowledge beyond the comic-book world or an editor with a firmer hand who would have had the foresight to turn this into a much, much, much shorter memoir. Frankly, I’m angry at how very bad this book is.

Coming up: Last Overdue Guide ...

Our Nine Episodes of Impertinence

2011-10-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

Part 21 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

The God of Impertinence by Sten Nadolny (translated by Breon Mitchell) – Yep, here’s another novel about Greek Gods mucking about in modern times … except for one thing. This German translation was published about ten years before the current glut of mythological fiction. It’s also a good deal smarter and more creative than its more mainstream English brethren – which isn’t to say it’s not without its faults. The story and the characters are, well, they’re rather weak (or, as The New York Times brilliantly phrased it: “Nadolny's spoof of modern civilization doesn't take itself too seriously, and we shouldn't either. (Otherwise we might be irked by the disposable characters and a plot that suggests the random movements of protozoa.)”) After being chained to a volcano for two millennia, Hermes escapes to find a world where Hephaestus has taken over for Zeus (who has retired to New Athens, Illinois, where he plays golf) and the complicated nuances of Greek Gods have given way to a one-size-fits-all deity. This is an entertaining novel with some sly, sharp commentary (and numerous obscure references – I have to say, I’m much more knowledgeable about an odd assortment of random facts thanks to this book and the Internet). All in all, this book is a great example of why I love public libraries and their vast collections that give me the ability to stumble upon books I never would have otherwise discovered. Quasi-recommended.

Our Father Who Art in a Tree: A Novel by Judy Pascoe – Following her father’s death, ten-year-old Simone discovers he now lives in the tree in her family’s backyard. So begins a tale of grief and learning how to cope and move on after tragedy. The book starts off strong, but rather than let the story unfold naturally, Ms. Pascoe shows all her cards within the first few pages, giving what should be a simple but deep story an emotional flatness that undermines the serious subject matter. I discovered this Australian import by accident at the library and went into it with high expectations – when handled well, the aftermath of tragedy can make for one of richest sandboxes in which writers can play (and can, by extension, hide a multitude of literary sins). Here, instead of a kaleidoscope of emotions, readers are given pretty scenic descriptions, new-age psychobabble, and jerky pacing. Honestly, I finished this with the rather unkind thought that the book’s major problem was that its author lacked the skill to give this very creative idea the tale it deserved. I had thought it impossible to write a book about a child losing a parent without hitting emotional pay dirt, but this book proved me wrong. Not recommended.

Fame: A Novel in Nine Episodes by Daniel Kehlmann (translated by Carol Brown Janeway) – Completing my unintentional German literary trinity, this interrelated short story collection was, without a doubt, my favorite of the bunch. Part of that may be due to the mixed reviews I read after stumbling upon this book in the library – I went in with low expectations, which were quickly exceeded. Mr. Kehlmann expects his readers to think and connect the dots, and it’s not always immediately clear why he decided on a certain action or scene. Frankly, discussing the intricacies of this book in a few lines of a review will not do it justice. It’s a book for bibliophiles who want a bit of a challenge but want to be entertained along the way. It is about fame, but not in the style of Hollywood – Mr. Kehlmann plays with reality, fiction, and identity, and gives each of his protagonists’ unique voices and styles. It’s nothing of what I expected but I sincerely hope Mr. Kehlmann continues to write such creative, smart books, and that Ms. Janeway continues to deftly translate them into English. Highly recommended.

Coming up: Beloved Optimism Day ...

The Mistress with Perfume in the Library

2011-10-14T10:53:00.000-07:00

Part 20 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

The Mistress by Phillippe Tapon – Some smart passages and sections cannot make up for a scattered plot and flat characters. Set in Paris during World War II, the story follows Simone and her married lover, a doctor. When authors choose a more artistic style over traditional storytelling, I find small details crucial to successfully creating a novel that is as much a story as a work of art. Those small details are missing here. More than that, Mr. Tapon assumes readers will be able to understand the implications and deeper meanings without any explanation, which diminishes what power this book would have as a commentary about the compromises and sacrifices made in the name of survival. Not recommended.

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind (translated by John E. Woods) – What an odd, quirky little book. It’s taken me a while to untangle my thoughts on it, mostly because I keep circling back around to a joke from the show 30 Rock about German sitcoms (this is where I should probably stop and mention Perfume is a translation of a 1985 German bestseller). This tale centering on the eminently creepy but somehow endearing Jean-Baptiste Grenouille – born with an astounding sense of smell but no smell of his own – well earns the praise labeling it a ‘modern masterpiece.’ It’s full of beautiful (even in translation) prose, briefly sketched but entertaining characters, and subtle layers. Frankly, I’m in awe at how deftly Mr. Süskind created with words and paper the scent-centered world in which Grenouille exists. For all the lovely turns of phrase, though, Perfume is a dark story (see subtitle) set amidst the stark reality of daily life in eighteenth-century France, yet Mr. Süskind glides through the pages with an almost comedic sensibility. It’s a disturbing combination, and I think it’s why I keep coming back to 30 Rock’s ten-second commentary on German humor. For all that Perfume’s odd juxtaposition between tone and subject matter shouldn’t work, it does and in a very logical way. I finished the book amused – and a bit horrified by my amusement – but unable to imagine another way in which to tell Grenouille’s twisted tale. Recommended. [ETA: I don’t normally say this, but it’s definitely worth checking out the film after reading the book. As far as adaptations go, it’s above average and it gave me a better appreciation of the novel. Two things in particular make the movie a worthy companion to the book: Much as Mr. Süskind managed to capture scent verbally, the film’s cinematography and costumes do the same visually. Second, actor Ben Whishaw brings Grenouille to life, and I can’t imagine a better or more accurate portrayal of this creepy character.]

Library: An Unquiet History by Matthew Battles – More a meditative meandering through the literary world than a traditional history, I found the first seventy pages slow and disjointed (and almost put the book down numerous times). Once Mr. Battles gets to the Renaissance, however, he finds his voice and manages to salvage the book. His tendency to use big, unnecessary words (yes, I get it, you’re smart; now try for clarity) and a lack of a strong central theme stifle the book’s potential, especially because the strongest parts of the book are when he’s concise and not trying to turn the work into some sort of intellectual pissing contest. He presents random snippets of the unending debate about the role of libraries and literature within society and, along the way, presents a slew of (sometimes obscure) essays and books that never would have interested me otherwise. My reading list is much longer as a result of this book, and, in some ways, I think that’s indicative of a book that, despite its shortcomings, succeeds. Quasi-recommended.

Coming up: Our Nine Episodes of Impertinence ...

One Man's Freedom Effect

2011-09-30T11:35:00.000-07:00

Part 19 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Making Supper Safe: One Man’s Quest to Learn the Truth about Food Safety by Ben Hewitt – I loved Hewitt’s previous book, The Town That Food Saved. Many of the things that I liked about that book – unique voice, a focus on people over statistics – are here, but the subject matter doesn’t lend itself as well to Hewitt’s informal approach. The chapters are both independent entries and part of a very loose narrative – something I don’t mind, except there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to their order. Given the topic’s complexity, as a reader, it would have been nice to have some direction as to the big picture. The book relies more heavily on facts and statistics than The Town That Food Saved, but there’s not even a page at the end directing readers where to go for more information, and it bothered me that I couldn’t go to Hewitt’s source material to read more. Hewitt does a good job of taking a complicated, sometimes upsetting issue and making it a relatively easy – even enjoyable – read, but, as a whole, I didn’t find the book sufficiently unique to stand out from the crowd of documentaries and books about food safety and our industrial, corporate food system. Quasi-recommended.

The Ripple Effect: The Fate of Fresh Water in the Twenty-First Century by Alex Prud’homme – It wasn’t until I started reading this book that I realized I hadn’t been entirely sure what to expect from a book about water. Within the first twenty pages, however, I also realized Mr. Prud’homme was going to exceed whatever expectations I had about this topic. This is a tremendously well-researched and organized book, covering a vast array of topics and shaping the conversation about water into a complex but accessible treatise. It’s a fantastic survey of the state of water – and the laws, engineering, weather, pollution, policy, and society surrounding it – and left me feeling much more informed about this topic. I picked this book up on a whim, and I finished it feeling like it’s one of the most important books I’ve read this year. Highly recommended.

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen – The tale of Walter and Patty Berglund, I’ve decided this book is as much a litmus test as a work of fiction. Both before and after I read Freedom, I heard a wide array of opinions and impressions about the book, often diametrically opposite. I can’t recall any other book in recent memory where readers were so very divided and took such very different messages from the same pages. To that end, it does make for some fascinating discussion. As for me: It’s not an altogether happy story, but it’s also not as dark as I expected. Overall, I enjoyed Mr. Franzen’s slow unraveling of these characters and their lives, and I’m glad I knew little of the plot before I started reading. I found it a solid book that captures the culture and warring desires of Baby Boomers at the turn of the twenty-first century and acts as a literary time capsule to a time, place, and generation in American history. Recommended.

Coming up: The Mistress with Perfume in the Library ...

Friday's Help Dies

2011-09-23T11:54:00.000-07:00

Part 18 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Friday’s Child by Georgette Heyer – Following beautiful Miss Milborne’s refusal of his proposal, Lord Sheringham (Sherry) vows to marry the first women he sees. That woman happens to be Hero Wantage, orphaned teenager and lifelong admirer of the spoiled Sherry. Published during World War II, this is an escapist G-rated romance with a hint of dry English humor and no pretensions beyond reveling in the sheer absurdness of Ms. Heyer’s fanciful Regency world. The middle drags, but the beginning and end almost make up for it. Hero – or Kitten, as Sherry nicknames her – is sickeningly innocent, but she somehow manages to be endearing. Surrounding her and Sherry are an assortment of supporting characters who, while far short of Austen’s whimsical creations, are much more entertaining than the supporting casts in most romantic comedies. Overall, I enjoyed this story and its silly, ridiculous concept, but I wish it were shorter. It’s similar to watching a three-hour romantic comedy: even if entertaining, two hours would have been enough. Quasi-recommended.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett – Simplistic – this is like reading a basic primer about Civil Rights written for young children. It starts with an engaging concept (rich white girl decides to write book about reality of being a black maid), but the longer I read, the more convinced I was that this was a book written with the goal of turning the story into a movie. It’s full of carefully constructed scandals, obvious lessons, and an array of colorful characters (with the necessary dose of tragedy to make sure everyone knows this is about REAL LIFE) – in other words, the perfect set pieces to transfer onto the big screen (And what do you know? The movie’s coming out in August! [ETA: Yes, the movie came out in August and was a box-office success. There truly is no accounting for taste.]). The villains are cardboard-cutout evil; the good girls blandly virtuous (and without any decent motivation or real understanding of what they’re doing). At 450 pages, a novel needs to be more than a revisionist Civil Rights fairy tale where white people are the benevolent saviors to the downtrodden blacks. Ms. Stockett had a wonderful opportunity to delve into the very deep complexities of the 1960s in Mississippi and allow readers to appreciate the difficulties faced by black and white alike. Instead she opted for a shallow book with lots of loose ends but not much of actual substance. Frankly, I think this book was more an insight into the author and her beliefs than the time period. Not recommended.

Skippy Dies by Paul Murray – Not an easy read, this novel meanders at times and is more of a tragedy with comedic elements than a dark comedy. All the same, 661 pages later, I am glad I read it. Centered around the death of Daniel “Skippy” Juster, a fourteen-year-old student at Seabrook School for Boys in Dublin, this book uses Skippy’s passing as the hook. The book falls square into the overly-worn tale of boarding school drama and growing up, something that hinders it at times, mostly because, well, I’m sick of reading about dead teenagers used as plot devices in an effort to impart important life lessons. After finishing the book, though, I’d argue that Murray uses the boarding school as a convenient stand-in for larger society, a closed community in which he can unravel this complicated, dense story. I’ve read a handful of books that have tackled similar themes and plot elements in the past year, and, to me, this is the first to succeed in doing something new and unique (even if it does take about 400 pages for that to become clear). Events that would be center stage in other books are relegated to small, easy-to-overlook subplots, and, for me, it wasn’t until the last page that the entire story clicked into place and became one unified narrative rather than a messy story with lots of unconnected parts (and let me recommend taking the time to flip back through the book and reread sections to better appreciate the novel as a whole after finishing). Murray’s fictional world is not a happy place – something that becomes more and more apparent as the book progresses. The world in and around Seabrook is a place where dreams die and optimism is a weakness. Murray’s tone – wry, humorous, and sparse – gives the book a lightness that obscures how bleak this book and its message are. In hindsight, I’d even say it’s deeply disturbing because it masquerades as a dark comedy accessorized with adolescent humor while rivaling some of the great tragedies for its dark, unrelenting picture of a modern world led astray. This one’s going to stick with me for a long time and not in a good way. All the same, I have to tip my hat to Paul Murray for successfully writing a very complicated, thought-provoking novel. Even if it did leave me with a sudden desire to curl up with my childhood teddy bear and watch a Disney movie. Recommended.

Coming up: One Man's Freedom Effect ...

The Golden Rule

2011-09-20T19:12:00.000-07:00

I'm slowly making my way through Bill Moyers Journal: The Conversation Continues. The book is comprised of transcripts from interviews Mr. Moyers conducted between 2007 and 2010, and two hundred pages in, I have yet to read a bad one and am a bit overwhelmed by the range of topics and the depth of the answers.

The interview with Karen Armstrong - former nun, author of multiple books on religion - struck a particular cord with me. The entire interview is a great read, but one answer stood out for me:

Moyers: "You ask, 'What would it mean to interpret the whole of the Bible as a commentary on the Golden Rule?' What's your answer to that question?"

Armstrong: "Well, this one of the things that really intrigued me when I was researching this book. How frequently the early rabbis, for example, in the Talmudic period, shortly after the death of Jesus, insisted that any interpretation of scripture that read hatred or contempt for any single human being was illegitimate. Rabbi Hillel, the older contemporary of Jesus, said that anyone, when asked to sum up the whole of the Jewish teaching while standing on one leg, should answer, 'The Golden Rule. That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the Torah. And everything else is only commentary. Now, go and study it.' St. Augustine said that scripture teaches nothing but charity. And if you come to a passage like the one you just read, that seems to preach hatred, you've got to give it an allegorical or metaphorical interpretation. And make it speak for charity."

She expands on this point elsewhere in the interview, but I think this sums up the gist of her position quite nicely.

To that end, Dr. Armstrong inspired the Charter for Compassion, "a document that transcends religious, ideological, and national difference. Supported by leading thinkers from many traditions, the Charter activates the Golden Rule around the world." I hadn't heard anything about the charter, and, after reading it, I'm disappointed it hasn't attracted more attention. What a great idea, after all, to remind us what we share, a foundation upon which to build.

A Hungry Child Can't Wait: Ask5for5

2011-09-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, my friend Ashley (who you can find blogging at This Hofmann Life) asked if I'd be willing to post a blog on September 19 highlighting the current famine in Africa. I said yes, and, below the break, this post comes entirely from Sarah Lenssen of Ask5for5. I should mention that I am not including the pictures included in her email as blogger had a problem loading them. Those who want to see them can go to Ashley's Ask5for5 post.

The situation in Africa receives too little attention, and I was only too glad to do my very small part in helping the folks over at Ask5for5.
_________

A hungry child in East Africa can't wait. Her hunger consumes her while we decide if we'll respond and save her life. In Somalia, children are stumbling along for days, even weeks, on dangerous roads and with empty stomachs in search of food and water. Their crops failed for the third year in a row. All their animals died. They lost everything. Thousands are dying along the road before they find help in refugee camps.

At my house, when my three children are hungry, they wait minutes for food, maybe an hour if dinner is approaching. Children affected by the food crisis in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia aren't so lucky. Did you know that the worst drought in 60 years is ravaging whole countries right now, as you read this? Famine, a term not used lightly, has been declared in Somalia. This is the world's first famine in 20 years.12.4 million people are in need of emergency assistance and over 29,000 children have died in the last three months alone. A child is dying every 5 minutes. It it estimated that 750,000 people could die before this famine is over. Take a moment and let that settle in.

The media plays a major role in disasters. They have the power to draw the attention of society to respond--or not. Unfortunately, this horrific disaster has become merely a footnote in most national media outlets. News of the U.S. national debt squabble and the latest celebrity's baby bump dominate headlines. That is why I am thrilled that nearly 150 bloggers from all over the world are joining together today to use the power of social media to make their own headlines; to share the urgent need of the almost forgotten with their blog readers. Humans have the capacity to care deeply for those who are suffering, but in a situation like this when the numbers are too huge to grasp and the people so far away, we often feel like the little we can do will be a drop in the ocean, and don't do anything at all.

When news of the famine first hit the news in late July, I selfishly avoided it. I didn't want to read about it or hear about it because I knew I would feel overwhelmed and uncomfortable. I wanted to protect myself. I knew I would need to do something if I knew what was really happening. You see, this food crisis is personal. I have a four-year-old son and an one-year-old daughter who were adopted from Ethiopia and born in regions now affected by the drought. If my children still lived in their home villages, they would be two of the 12.4 million. My children: extremely hungry and malnourished? Gulp. I think any one of us would do anything we could for our hungry child. But would you do something for another mother's hungry child?

My friend and World Vision staffer, Jon Warren, was recently in Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya--the largest refugee camp in the world with over 400,000 people. He told me the story of Isnino Siyat, 22, a mother who walked for 10 days and nights with her husband, one-year-old baby, Suleiman, and four-year-old son Adan Hussein, fleeing the drought in Somalia. When she arrived at Dadaab, she built the family a shelter with borrowed materials while carrying her baby on her back. Even her dress is borrowed. As she sat in the shelter on her second night in camp she told Jon, "I left because of hunger. It is a very horrible drought which finished both our livestock and our farm." The family lost their 5 cows and 10 goats one by one over 3 months, as grazing lands dried up. "We don't have enough food now...our food is finished. I am really worried about the future of my children and myself if the situation continues."

Will you help a child like Baby Suleiman? Ask5for5 is a dream built upon the belief that you will.

That something I knew I would need to do became a campaign called Ask5for5 to raise awareness and funds for famine and drought victims. The concept is simple. Give $5 and ask five of your friends to give $5, and then they each ask five of their friends to give $5 and so on. In nine generations of 5x5x5, we could raise $2.4 Million! In one month, over 750 people have donated over $25,000! I set up a fundraiser at See Your Impact and 100 percent of the funds will go to World Vision, an organization that has been fighting hunger in the Horn of Africa for decades and will continue long after this famine has ended. Donations can multiply up to 5 times in impact by government grants to help provide emergency food, clean water, agricultural support, healthcare, and other vital assistance to children and families suffering in the Horn.

I need you to help me save lives. It's so so simple; here's what you need to do:

Donate $5 or more at See Your Impact's Ask5for5 page.
Send an email to your friends and ask them to join us.
Share #Ask5for5 on Facebook and Twitter!

I'm looking for another 100 bloggers to share this post on their blogs throughout Social Media Week. Email me atask5for5@gmail.com if you're interested in participating this week.

Revolutionary Outcasts and Anarchists

2011-09-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

Part 17 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Eden’s Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father by John Matteson – After reading three fictional accounts of the Alcott family (Little Women, March, and The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott), I realized I had no grasp of who Bronson Alcott, the family patriarch, was. While the rest of the Alcott / March family was similarly portrayed in all three stories, the father figure ranged from a largely absent saint and a troubled idealist to my least favorite, a selfish sociopath. Despite my somewhat lukewarm feelings towards biographies, I decided to check out Eden’s Outcasts, and I’m thrilled I did. Dr. Matteson paints a complex picture of Bronson Alcott, one that brings the man (and all of his quirks and peculiarities) to life. Indeed, it’s Bronson around whom this story revolves and why this book succeeds. With Bronson as the lynchpin, Dr. Matteson creates a detailed account of the Alcott family and the people, places, and time that surrounded them. I’d even argue the title sells the book short as it is much more than a biography about a father and a daughter or even a family – it’s also a history of sorts of 19th century America and its intellectual community. Using the Alcott family as his starting point, Dr. Matteson captures the people and relationships within the transcendentalist movement. I’d go so far as to say this is the best book I’ve read about the transcendentalist movement because of the focus on one particular player. While Matteson doesn’t capture Louisa quite as well as he captures Bronson (something I’d partially attribute to the sources available to him – Bronson left behind thousands of pages of journals; Louisa burned portions of hers), the book still allows readers to understand why she became the woman she was and how her family – especially her father – shaped her. Overall, an absolutely fantastic biography and one that well deserved a Pulitzer. Time consuming but highly recommended.

The Princess, the King and the Anarchist by Robert Pagani (translated by Helen Marx) – As a warning: Do not read the introduction first. In addition to being rather pointless (it’s a 92-page story that’s not particularly complicated), the introduction gives away most of the plot and reads more like a student’s opinionated term paper than serious academic scholarship. I wanted to like this book, because it was thought provoking in places and opened the door for lots of good analysis and pondering. Translated from French, this novella takes the true event of the bombing on the 1906 wedding processional in Spain and spins off a fictional meditation on monarchy, immortality, and marriage. At least, that’s the message I think the author wanted to convey, among others. The novella doesn’t delve below the surface, and the characters suffer from an author who can’t decide whether they are supposed to be people or symbols, ending up in the nebulous middle area. I understood where the author wanted to go, but the execution is shoddy (especially towards the end). A great example of a novel that wants to be intellectual and disdain traditional storytelling, only it’s not good enough to break the rules and work. Due to its short length, quasi recommended.

ChiRunning: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running (2009 ed.) by Danny Dreyer and Katherine Dreyer – Despite many shortcomings (including a ridiculous name), the information on running form and technique make it something special. I’ve been toying around with some of the suggestions for three weeks now, and I’ll fully admit the Dreyers hit on something important with this method. As a minimalist running convert, I’d even go so far as to say this book provided me with the missing piece I’ve needed to fully hit my stride. So two thumbs way up for the information, which I think would benefit the vast majority of runners, whatever their skill level or shoe preference. However, this is good information stuck in a horrible book. To name just a few of the problems: it’s repetitive, the first fifty pages are pointless filler (and almost resulted in me putting the book down multiple times), the salesmanship for the whole ChiRunning line puts used-car salesmen to shame, the t’ai chi angle is weak (and could easily be called YogaRunning, as it seems to borrow equally from both disciplines – which is to say, not much), and the author (Danny) embodies the most ridiculous of Western embrace of Eastern thought and practice (there’s an SNL sketch in here somewhere … ). I’m frankly disappointed I liked the meat of the book as much as I did, because I really didn’t like the messenger. As it is, I’m now planning to buy a (used) copy of the book because the good parts are a great reference to have, but I refuse to line Mr. Dreyer’s pocket with even a penny. Recommended.

Coming up: Friday's Help Dies ...

Literary March Around the World

2011-09-09T14:23:00.000-07:00

Part 16 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Around the World in 100 Days by Gary L. Blackwood – I’ll admit it. Gary Blackwood’s grown on me. His books are solidly good – not great, but always entertaining diversions. This book is a sequel of sorts to Around the World in Eighty Days (while it’s not necessary to read the original first, I’m glad I did, as this book gives away all of the twists in Mr. Verne’s tale). Here, Harry Fogg – son of the famous Phileas Fogg – makes a bet that he can circle the globe in a steam-powered motorcar in one hundred days (with the caveat that he is allowed to take boats over bodies of water). Like Mr. Blackwood’s Shakespeare Stealer series, this is historical fiction that is loosely accurate at best. The plot has its share of flaws, but I found a Harry a likeable, believable protagonist, which made it easy to enjoy the story for what it is. Recommended.

March by Geraldine Brooks – Little Women purists, I think it’s safe to say, will not like this book. People who want neat stories with definitive answers and pat solutions will also not like this book. While I occasionally fall into the latter camp, I loved this messy, beautiful novel that takes the question – what was Little Women’s Mr. March doing during the Civil War – and runs with it. Ms. Brooks combines details from Little Women and Bronson Alcott’s life, blurring fiction and fact and spring boarding into something entirely new. Writing fictional accounts of real people or expanding on another author’s fictional character is a risky gamble, one that, to me, rarely pays off. It’s a fine line, after all: an overbearing devotion to stay true to the original often hurts the story and loses some intangible part of the message while a too-free hand in the use and interpretation can so thoroughly distort the original as to disrespect it (and often strikes this reader as lazy). Ms. Brooks also traverses a well-worn path in centering this story on a man going off to war and encountering harsh realities. In short, there were a lot of places for the execution of this story to falter. Ms. Brooks, however, manages a rare hat trick in literature: she treads a fine line in keeping March true to facts without sacrificing her voice all while creating a moving, unique story out of well-worn plot. Perhaps most impressively, while Ms. Brooks did not shy away from dirtying these characters and making them her own fallible creations, I finished this with a better appreciation for both Little Women and Mr. Alcott. Personally, I was glad Ms. Brooks turned the March parents into normal humans with their own foibles, and I appreciated this contrast between how they appeared to their children and their struggles as adults caught between their own morals and a complicated world. So while, yes, the book had some small flaws, as a whole it is a remarkably crafted work of literature. Highly recommended.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows – I had a hard time getting into this book, mostly because I had trouble keeping all of the characters straight until about seventy-five pages in. This is an epistolary novel and, while the format worked for this story, it did make it hard to get to know all of the characters initially. In the aftermath of World War II, Guernsey is rebuilding after being occupied by German forces. When a resident of the island writes Juliet Ashton after finding her address written in a book, the London-based writer is slowly drawn into the lives and events of the island. There’s a good deal of serious subject matter interwoven into this light tale, but the book never loses its wry voice while affording a tremendous amount of respect to the horrors of what happened. It’s an odd combination, but it works. When I finished this book, I had a moment of thinking “well, wait, this is just one more quirky look at English country life complete with an assortment of odd characters” (and, yes, I know Guernsey is not technically English). While that’s true, this is a great example of something much more than the sum of its parts. It’s simultaneously unique and familiar, and I’m so glad I read it. Highly recommended.

Coming up: Revolutionary Outcasts and Anarchists ...

Little Lost Jacobite

2011-09-02T09:36:00.000-07:00

Part 15 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

The Jacobite by J.R. Planché – Finding a copy of this play – first performed in 1847 – is no easy task. For some reason, audiences in 2011 have no desire for two-act comic dramas set during the reign of George II. I only stumbled upon this play because of a reference in The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, which led to a rather obsessive hunt for the text, which, in turn, eventually resulted in a PDF version (thank you, Google). This is a short play – the notes list its run time at eighty minutes, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s closer to an hour, as the structure reminds me more of a one act than a full play. Either way, I’m delighted I found this little gem about Lady Somerford, who loves one man (who is the play’s titular Jacobite) but is being pursued by another man, who wants her only for her money and is her only hope for securing her love’s safety. The lady’s former nurse’s daughter, who is in turn being pursued by a young man employed by her mother, is trying to arrange a meeting between the lady and the Jacobite when she accidentally loses a slip of paper detailing the meeting time and place. Despite the setting, this is less a political commentary (and could easily be set in any number of places and times) and more a romantic comedy with hijinks. It’s not as brilliant as Tartuffe or The Importance of Being Earnest, but it’s charming in its own way. My only complaint is that, having been introduced to Mr. Planché, I want to read more of his work, which means more riffling through various libraries and databases. A small price for good literature, I know. Recommended.

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees – My book group selected this for July, and, from the standpoint of a book that offers a lot of avenues for discussion, I liked it. Considering this solely as a novel, though, I was more frustrated than anything. Ms. McNees did a great job on her research, but I wanted more than pleasant entertainment. Everything – from the characters to the central romance – seemed flat. The book didn’t really answer any questions or delve into deeper issues. I read Little Women in conjunction with this, and that book – for all that it’s a fairly simple tale – hints at a complexity within Miss Alcott. The fictional Louisa reminded me of some odd version of Jo from Little Women, and, after finishing Little Women, I have to say that I think the real Louisa was a much more complicated person than Jo – after all, this was the woman who created and made real all of the characters within Little Women and preached about proper behavior even while giving all four March girls their own unique brands of independence. I wanted to see that duality – that pull between traditional values and independence and reconciling the two – exploited and explored within Lost Summer. The book’s plot presented so many opportunities to show readers how Louisa May Alcott became the woman known as one of America’s most famous authors, but, as written, it wasn’t much more than a story that went through the motions. Admittedly, I’m an absolute brat when it comes to what I want from characters, so I have a feeling most people would enjoy this more than I did. Quasi-recommended.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott – If you’re one of the five people who do not know what happens in this classic, let me advise you to stop reading. Louisa May Alcott possessed a remarkable understanding of the human condition and relationships. I’d even go so far as to say that’s the biggest strength in Little Women. The dynamics between most of the characters – especially the sisters – is what makes this book worth reading. As a whole, however, I found the book long and uneven, and, yes, I’ll admit it: I didn’t like Amy, and Mr. Bhaer creeped me out. On the flip side, I loved the relationship between Jo and Laurie and loved that Ms. Alcott kept them as friends and nothing more (because they were too similar and they never would have been happy together). But onto Amy and the Creepy Old Man. Amy reminded me of Pride and Prejudice’s Lydia, only without a good excuse for the bratty behavior, and a sudden transformation that I didn’t quite buy. Yes, people mature, but, I’m sorry, I found Amy a spoiled, pretentious brat who got everything she wanted through dumb luck and an entitled attitude and lip service to humbleness. The relationship between Jo and Mr. Bhaer struck me as a paternalistic teacher-student sort, and I found him a cloying simpleton. I liked the subtle lesson in love not being about looks or money but about something much deeper – that marriage must be built on a solid foundation and not merely a passing fancy. What a wonderful message, but it didn’t work here. I kept thinking of Colonel Brandon and Marianne, who delivered that same message but in a way that proved the point rather than leaving me disgusted at some old dude panting after some smart young thing. Frankly, Jo marrying Mr. Laurence would have bothered me less than her ending up with that idiot. Oh, and Beth was a bit too virtuous. Yes, I thought her storyline was one of the most touching in the book (and showed how an author can create tension and emotion within a story even with events that are a foregone conclusion – something I wish more modern authors would realize), but I like my virtuous saints with a hint of human frailty. In closing, even though I didn’t loved it, I can see why this book’s popularity endured despite its length, sometimes preachy tone, and quaint notions (although I would argue that Meg’s devotion to her job as a housewife is a good example for girls in doing their jobs well, whether that be in a home or a boardroom). There is something endearing about the March family and their relentless optimism, but I do desperately need to switch to something not quite so cloyingly sweet. Quasi recommended.

Coming up: Literary March Around the World ...

The C Word

2011-08-30T11:53:00.000-07:00

An upcoming BBC program discusses the five-letter word no one ever says (mostly because it's supposed to be a thing of the past).

The UK and the US have significant differences in class (no titled aristocracy, for one), but I think they share quite a few similarities. I'll be keeping an eye out as to whether the BBC program is available in the US.

Eighty Fairy Ashes

2011-08-26T19:11:00.000-07:00

Part 14 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner – You know the old adage about how even a broken clock is right twice a day? It’s also the unofficial theme of this book, which chronologically details the CIA from its founding in 1947 until 2007. Going in, I knew bits and pieces of many of the incidents and events featured in this book, but seeing them lined up together in one narrative makes for a very bleak book. From the first page, this book hits the ground running with its doom-and-gloom tone, and the unrelenting pessimism put me off for the first fifty or so pages. After that, Mr. Weiner started to convince me, and, by the end – even though part of me still wanted to hold onto the idea that the CIA was not as incompetent as portrayed - what’s documented in this book is so morally repugnant that it’s hard to think of any justification for the needless waste of resources and lives (not to mention undermining American democracy and international standing). I’m a little shocked at how deeply this book disturbed me, although I am glad I read it. I am. I just very much need some mindless, happy book that is the complete opposite of the dark reality presented in Legacy of Ashes. Highly recommended.

Philippa Fisher’s Fairy Godsister by Liz Kessler – The title of this book comes from one line in the book – that Daisy, the fairy godmother, is more like a fairy godsister because of her age – and that’s it. For the rest of the book, she’s referred to as a fairy godmother. As a reader, I really hate when a book is sold on a fun, somewhat unique concept that is then discarded for a generic, paint-by-numbers tale. To be fair, the story of Philippa – daughter to artsy, scatter-brained parents and best friend to Charlotte, who recently moved away – is cute and has its moments. The problem is that it is so relentlessly on message, so desperate to make sure as many lessons can be crammed into the pages as possible, that the plot is little more than a checklist. As a child, I would have read this book, enjoyed it, and promptly forgotten about it. In short, it’s mildly entertaining and eminently forgettable. Quasi-recommended.

Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne (Books of Wonder edition; translated by George Makepeace Towle) – Considering it only for the plot and characters, I didn’t love it. Considering it from the standpoint of when it was written and its significance, I enjoyed it and got a nice reminder of why it’s so important to read the classics: they capture the time in which they were written in a way that historical fiction can never quite duplicate. Overall, I’m glad I read it. Recommended.

Coming up: Little Lost Jacobite ...

Teapocrisy

2011-08-24T17:38:00.000-07:00

Tea Party Platform: Tax decreases for everyone!

... except the poor and middle class

This settles it. It is officially easier to negotiate with a toddler than the far right.

Theory of the Quake

2011-08-23T23:42:00.000-07:00

Funny tweets about today's East Coast earthquake.

That said, I'm very glad the damage and injuries were minor enough that joking is acceptable less than twelve hours after the event - especially since I have quite a few friends and family in the area.

Mad, Bossy, and Fairest

2011-08-19T10:55:00.000-07:00

Part 13 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Bossypants by Tina Fey – If you like Tina Fey, you’ll probably like this book. If you don’t like Tina Fey, you probably won’t like this book. Since I fall into the former category, I mostly liked this book and thought it proved why Tina Fey deserved the Mark Twain award last fall. My one quibble is that, when she gets defensive, she’s not particularly funny, and a few of the chapters in this book are less funny and more about using humor as a passive-aggressive defense mechanism. Some comedians (and comediennes) can do that sort of thing well. Tina Fey is not one of them. But focusing on that is sort of like only talking about Michael Jordan’s baseball career. Overall, this is a great read. Recommended.

The Mad Bomber of New York: The Extraordinary True Story of the Manhunt That Paralyzed a City by Michael M. Greenburg – Somewhere between the biography, true crime, and history genres, this book details the hunt and subsequent capture of George Metesky, nicknamed the Mad Bomber by the New York press, and his sixteen-year “career” of placing bombs all over New York City. This is an entertaining read that packs a ton of information and a variety of issues into its pages. It’s somewhere between a mindless, fast-paced account and a dry, methodical analysis of the legal issues (competency to stand trial, bomb squad procedure, criminal profiling). In short, this book made me think but not too much – the perfect summer read. Recommended.

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine – A quasi-retelling of Snow White, this book is heavy on message and light on story and characters. Aza is the adopted daughter of innkeepers and, while blessed with a beautiful voice, is a bit hard on the eyes. She ends up at the palace for the king’s wedding, where she meets a handful of people, including the beautiful but vain new queen and the handsome and perfect prince. Dramatic events ensue (although not as dramatic as perhaps intended). I have no quibbles with the message Ms. Levine wanted to convey to young girls – Looks don’t matter! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder! – but it was overdone and required some odd leaps of logic to get to the happily ever after. More than that, Aza is a boring character. We know she’s not pretty and has an amazing voice, but there’s nothing in her personality that’s particularly appealing. I love the message that beauty is found within – that a mirror cannot show the qualities of a person that matter – but that’s not the message I got here. Instead I learned that even ugly trolls with beige personalities can get the prince if they are fortunate enough to be the protagonist in a fairy tale. And, once again, I am left wondering why books that are supposedly about girl power have to end with the fifteen-year-old heroine married off to a guy she’s known for a couple of months. So I guess the moral is that it’s OK to be ugly ... so long as you’re married by 16. Good to know. Not recommended.

Coming up: Eighty Fairy Ashes ...

"To Contemplate War"

2011-08-18T20:47:00.000-07:00

I try and watch Meet the Press regularly. It's one of the few news shows I can watch for any length of time without getting irrationally annoyed. Anyway, the Aug. 7 show featured a brief discussion on Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and the American military.

We still don't get it, do we?

A decade gone. Thousands of lives lost. Billions upon billions of dollars down the drain. And still no peace. Yet we continue to cling to a belief that our approach to Iraq and Afghanistan was right, that we'll somehow 'win' by continuing to throw good money after bad and putting young Americans into dangerous situations.

Frankly, it's frightening how little we've learned.

In retrospect, I wasn't old enough to understand what was really happening in 2001. I was a sheltered, too-smart-for-my-own-good college student who trusted adults a little too much and optimistically assumed the people in charge would do the right thing.

Ten years on, part of me continues to reel from how very wrong I was. It turns out that being smart is no protection against being fooled, and I'm still angry I was so easily misled. It's not a sharp, quick anger. Rather, it's a slow burn, a sort of smoldering rage that I don't think will ever entirely go away and one that I don't want to go away. I want this continued reminder of my youthful folly, of where blind faith mixed with propaganda can lead.

And so, I read and I learn and I vow to never, ever stop doing either of those things. I try not to accept answers or positions without asking why. Stubborn as I am, I'm working to not hold onto a belief simply because I don't want to admit I was wrong. I can't change what I've done or thought; I can change what I'll do and think.

How I've dealt with that Aug. 7 Meet the Press and the reminder that we haven't really learned much is by going through archives from 2003 and reading what was said then, remembering what those days were like. Along the way, I came across a mention of a speech I had not heard or even remember hearing about. I finally found a transcript - albeit on a British newspaper's website rather than any of the American papers, which, from what I remember of 2003, is a pretty good commentary on the lack of discussion featured in American papers in the run up to the invasion to Iraq:

Senator Robert Byrd's February 2003 Anti-War Speech

It's a wonderful mess of words (and strangely prescient), and I hope others will take a few minutes to read and ponder as well.

Rant of Dislike: The Sequel

2011-08-17T09:59:00.000-07:00

Part 12a of Books I Read in 2011

Every so often, I stumble across a book so very bad that merely saying I didn't like it is not enough. Welcome to 2011's first Rant of Dislike: books that should have been good but are instead so bad they inspire semi-coherent tangents and make me wonder about the state of literature and, because some people actually find the books decent, the state of American society and culture.

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear (Maisie Dobbs No. 2) - I so want to like this series. I feel like I should like this series, that I’m the target audience and there is something wrong with me that I don’t like this series. But I don’t like Maisie Dobbs. At all. She’s a cold, self-centered woman with few redeeming qualities and the good fortune to be fictional and therefore able to ignore her numerous failings due to an author who wants to make her something wonderful. In short, she’s the literary equivalent of a spoiled, lazy, not-at-all bright teenager who gets into Harvard because of a legacy. After finishing this book, I made a list of what I didn’t like about this book (don’t worry, it’s not exhaustive) so that, whenever I start to think I should give this series another chance, I can read this list and remember why that would be a waste of good reading. What follows contains some small spoilers, but since I don’t think the book is worth reading, I don’t feel particularly bad about possibly ruining this book (seriously, don’t read it):

I don’t care how many times an author tells me a character is smart. That doesn’t convince me. Show me a character is smart. I can say I’m 6’1” all I want, but that doesn’t make me 6’1”.
On a related note, when a character is supposed to be smart, don’t drop massive clues, have said character ignore said clues for one hundred pages, and then suddenly remember them when it’s convenient for the story. That makes the character looks stupid.
When an author bases a scene or resolution off what one character says or does, please make sure said action would make a normal person step back and go “yep, understand why that would evoke that reaction.” Having a character go into a murderous rampage because someone gives him a slice of cake doesn’t make sense unless it’s explained, for example, that the government programmed that person to go into a murderous rampage if served cake. As a reader, I want to understand a book. I don’t want to have to create my own explanations to make a plot or scene work.
When a murderer snaps several years after an event, it’d be nice to know what set him off.
I like suspense - but only if used properly. When used properly, it’s a great addition to a story. When not used correctly (like when the information being withheld ties in directly to the title of the book and in no way reveals the denouement - say, for example, identical feathers found at crime scenes in a book titled Birds of a Feather), it just makes a story tedious. Put another way: Not immediately revealing who owned the knife found at the murder scene and not revealing related information that would give away the mystery? Good use of suspense. Waiting one hundred pages to reveal a knife was the murder weapon (and treating it as super mysterious) when it doesn’t reveal anything and is easy to figure out with the information given? Not a good use of suspense.
Love triangles are overused, but, when used correctly, I always forgive the overuse and eagerly lap up the drama. However, crucifying one character to build a triangle, telling the audience why they should like a character without giving any examples as to why, and using the device as a way to put in a cheap, unnecessary cliffhanger are not acceptable uses of a love triangle - and remind me why I’d like them to become the exception rather than the rule in storytelling.
Also, if an author must have a love triangle in a story, it’d be nice if the person at the center does not seem like a cold, heartless fish. As a reader, I want to understand why two men are attracted to one woman and both pursue her. Telling me that Betsy is a vicarious, funny woman doesn’t convince me she is (especially when the book contains no examples of that) and doesn’t show me why two men are fighting over her. Said conflict is even more difficult to believe when the author points out (repeatedly) that the story is set in post-WWI England and available women outnumber men by a considerable degree.
Using “feelings” to advance a story. Nope. Sorry. Yes, I’m all about rooms giving off a certain vibe and going off gut instincts. But when an author uses meditation and mysticism in place of actual investigating, I don’t like it. It seems cheap.
Emotional scenes put in for no reason other than to take up page space and make a character seem deep. Nope. Don’t do it. Especially when an author can’t even let that melodramatic story tell itself – excerpts of brief, meaningless conversations about a problem suddenly invented are not fun to read and do not move me to any emotion other than annoyance.
If a character is suffering from a drug addiction and withdrawal, there needs to be some actual consequence. Having them absolutely fine whenever they are needed? Weak. I want consequences! Under this logic, Achilles still had a weak heel but it didn’t matter, and he won anyway. What’s the point of that?

Those are the major points about why I didn’t like this book. To boil it all down (and I could have put this earlier, but certain books just bring out a need to rant): Like the first one, this has all of the pieces of a good mystery but the actual product is not good. I can’t quite believe such a great premise is so badly executed. More than that, I can't understand how such horribly written novels have spanned an (as of 2011) eight-book series. What am I missing? That’s the real mystery. Not recommended.

Coming up: Mad, Bossy, and Fairest

Mocking Brat

2011-08-12T10:15:00.000-07:00

Part 12 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey – Eight years ago, Patrick Ashby went missing, leaving behind a handful of clues that indicated he committed suicide. Now, on the eve of what was to be his twenty-first birthday, he reappears in the guise of Brat Farrar, an orphan persuaded to stand in as heir to the Ashby fortune. This book is less a traditional mystery than a novel about morality and family with a suspenseful background. The characters – who shift and alter as the story unfolds – are what make this book. The plot is not terribly complex, but all of the pieces combine to make this story something special. Recommended.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins – What an utter waste of a great concept. The final book in the Hunger Games trilogy is more or less identical to the final book of any number of fantasy / adventure series. There are good guys and bad guys, lots of battles and explosions, and, naturally, the requisite number of deaths to remind us that war is bad (but will make for some really awesome action scenes when turned into a movie). Ms. Collins does throw in her own unique stamp: lots of potential for a darker, more complex tale that’s ignored in the name of adolescent moping. It’s like a choose-your-own adventure book where every choice made is the more boring of the two options. To give Ms. Collins the benefit of the doubt, I do wonder if this book was rushed to publication, because I can’t quite understand how a series that began so strongly whimpered to such a pitiful end. Based on this book alone, I’m revising my earlier recommendation about the series. Not recommended.

Coming up: Rant of Dislike: The Sequel ...

Gilled Eunuchs

2011-07-31T15:20:00.000-07:00

I recently finished reading Ben Hewitt's newest book, Making Supper Safe. For me, one of the most interesting chapters in the book dealt with genetically modified food - including laboratory-created salmon who are sterile (or, as I took to calling them in my head, gilled eunuchs). By interesting, I should probably clarify that I mean it creeped me out. A lot. Gilled eunuchs sound like the sort of short-sighted science experiment used in a bad horror movie that causes the end of civilization. Also, when a genetically-modified creature has to be sent out of the country for its formative years before being brought back to the U.S. for slaughter, I'm even less inclined to want it anywhere near my kitchen.

After finishing Making Supper Safe and worrying about the food I was eating, I cracked open Alex Prud'homme's The Ripple Effect to read about the water I'm drinking.* I'm not finished with the book, but so far I'm finding it fascinating and eminently readable. In particular, one of the chapters discussed the problems facing wild fish. Without getting into a tremendous amount of detail, scientists are still attempting to pinpoint the exact causes of deformities and mutations in wild populations (many of which revolve around sex and reproduction), but it's safe to say they are not naturally occurring.

On the one hand, then, we're taking fish into labs and trying to turn them into purely capitalistic units of sale. On the other, it's increasingly dangerous to go fishing in the wild because of pollution and the defects seen in wild fish. I don't know about you, but I'm kind of feeling like this is a no-win situation for the little people (and a massive defeat for fish).

I'm glad someone in Washington is stepping up and saying no to the gilled eunuchs. Once again, however, Congress proves they really have no concept of reality and brings a baseball bat to a soccer game. Rather than do something useful like, say, give the FDA proper guidelines on how to approve / reject GM beasties (or even say no to GM animals period - amazingly enough, the Constitution does allow Congress to do more than stage pointless and rather dangerous arguments about debt increases) or, hey, give the FDA enough power to actually stand up to the food industry's corporate bullies, Congress is saying they'll defund the FDA if the FDA approves the gilled eunuchs.

Idiots.

New thought. Let's throw all of Congress in the Potomac and see if they fare any better than the fish.

*This is an example of the downside of a library's hold list. I usually try and space out my doom-and-gloom non-fiction selections, but these two came off my hold list at the same time. As this entry demonstrates, it's been an interesting contrast - and the issues are closely related - but, man, I'm in quite the pessimistic funk about humanity's future right now.

Maisie's Southern Warmth

2011-07-29T11:38:00.000-07:00

Part 11 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson – Here’s the short synopsis of my review: When a 500+-page book is featured on numerous best-of lists and has won several coveted awards, I expect much, much more than this book delivers. Ms. Wilkerson absolutely did her research, and the first half of the book reflects that. The second half, however, is messy and tangential, hinting at deeper issues but nothing more.

Here’s the longer review (wherein I try to be vague so as not to spoil anything): I’m of two minds about this book. On the one hand, the interviews Ms. Wilkerson conducted with people who fled the South to escape Jim Crow are important to understanding American history, and I’m glad someone took the time to record those first-hand accounts. I can even understand, given the chosen format, the decision to focus on three individuals. Unfortunately, though, this book is much more than interviews about leaving the South and trying to settle into a new life, and that’s the crux of this book’s problems. Once out of the South, Ms. Wilkerson mostly settles for a rose-colored glasses version of history and society. She’s overly respectful of her three subjects, and while I understand her decision in this regard (and even like a book that’s not about tearing down people), it left the book in an uncomfortable place that could have been avoided if she had simply toned down the focus on those three people. As it is, the second half of the book mentions and hints at complex issues, but Ms. Wilkerson mostly ignores them, and without any deeper analysis, the book falters. Giving the entire topic a squeaky-clean happily-ever-after benefits no one – the great migration is complex, because the North and West were not the promised lands for everyone. I expected a complete picture of the great migration: instead readers are left with a version that ignores the negative unintended consequences. Analyzing and discussing something’s flaws does not make that thing bad or a mistake – it merely underlines the importance in understanding history and (hopefully) preventing a repeat of previous mistakes and offering a better solution. I wanted that here but instead got a pretty story and not much else. This book left me wanting to read more about the great migration, not because of some sudden fascination with the topic, but because this book contained so many unanswered questions. I wish Ms. Wilkerson had opted to focus on her strengths in crafting this book: giving a voice and a platform to those who left the South to escape Jim Crow. I came away with a tremendous amount of respect for her ability to interview people, and I so wish this book had featured many, many more stories and firsthand accounts and less tangents and ham-fisted analysis. Those individual stories were tremendously powerful, and a focus on those would have made this book more worthy of all the accolades. Quasi-recommended.

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear (Maisie Dobbs No. 1) – Great concept, mediocre execution. It’s 1929, and Maisie Dobbs – former housemaid and now an alumna of Cambridge’s Girton College – establishes her own investigation business following her mentor’s retirement. What shocked me about this book is that, unlike most debut mysteries, it had all of the pieces for a really smart, entertaining book with a fantastic plot and somehow ended up almost boring. More than that, I’m normally an absolute sucker for smart, resourceful female characters, and Maisie bugged me. Anyway, the book has all sorts of loose ends (and not the good cliffhanger sort), and the main plot is treated as an afterthought while some personal tragedy of Maisie’s is given the suspense treatment to the point where it stopped being suspenseful and was just dragged to death. I felt like I had stumbled into some sort of hipster commentary on mysteries, and that’s not something I even want to ironically read (and, no, I don’t think that’s how this book was intended). Admittedly, I’ll probably read the second book to see if Ms. Winspear delivers on the potential hinted at here, but this is one of the more lackluster mysteries I’ve read. Not recommended … although that may change if I really like the sequel.

There Goes My Everything: White Southerners in the Age of Civil Rights, 1945 – 1975 by Jason Sokol – In the sections where this book hits its stride, it’s an ambitious and brilliant peek into the complexities of being a white southerner during the civil rights movement. The book’s biggest strength is Dr. Sokol’s ability to delve into this topic and neither apologize for nor demonize white southerners. Instead he works to understand them and put their struggles into context (and largely succeeds). That said, the book’s wildly inconsistent in writing and organization, and even, at times, research. While some of the chapters come together (see the chapters on education and the 1964 Civil Rights Act), in others Dr. Sokol seems a bit over his head. It’s understandable, given the massive amount of material covered, but it also makes about half the book a chore to read. My feeling is that the problems of this book are largely due to Dr. Sokol’s inexperience (frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn this book was his dissertation). It’s an ambitious book, one that would likely be entirely different if written by someone a decade or two into his career. Part of me hopes Dr. Sokol himself may, at some point, revise and streamline this book. Even if he doesn’t, I plan to keep my eye out for future books: the strongest sections of this book are tremendously well written and researched, and if he continues to build in that direction, he’ll be a welcome new voice in American history. Quasi-recommended.

Coming up: Mockingbird Brats ...

The Age of Running Rapunzel

2011-07-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

Part 10 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian by Avi Steinberg – To sum this book up in one word: inconsistent. In detailing his two years as a librarian at a Boston jail, Mr. Steinberg – a Harvard grad and former yeshiva student – never quite settles on what he wants this memoir to be. There’s some decent stuff here, but the entire thing seems half finished, more rough drafts of pieces of a memoir than a finished product. I like books that capture both the humor and despair of a situation, that layer stories and subplots within the same pages, and while that seems to be the intention for this book, it lacks a theme and arc that make that sort of complexity click. Mr. Steinberg seems like a nice guy, and the book isn’t horrible – I just didn’t find it engaging enough to recommend, especially given its length. There are other books that better touch on many of the subjects raised in this book, and I think most readers would find them a better use of time. Not recommended.

After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn – The only child of Commerce City’s most prolific superheroes, Celia West has distanced herself from her famous parents by settling into a quiet life as an accountant. She’s mostly succeeded too – except for the times when criminals kidnap her in order to get her parents’ attention (but even that’s become part of her routine). This is a fun, if predictable, read. It embraces the superhero genre for what it is – Ms. Vaughn resists the tired clichés of sarcasm, camp, and/or “we’re-so-cool” that have come to overwhelm the genre. Yes, it has its share of flaws, but this is one of those books where you don’t think too hard and just enjoy the ride. Recommended.

Letters from Rapunzel by Sara Lewis Holmes – A few chapters into this book, I realized my childhood self would have absolutely hated this book. As a child, I was outright suspicious (and usually hostile) to books that appeared “cool” but were really “very special episode” lessons in disguise. This book is a great example of that genre: A young girl under the alias of Rapunzel writes letters to a mysterious post office box after her father falls prey to an “evil spell” (depression). On the one hand, I understand the need for a children’s book that deals with depression. But this book didn’t work for me. As a character, Rapunzel is all over the place, and I came away with the impression the author wanted to make sure as many children as possible could identify with the main character, leaving her a sort of amorphous blob (on a related note, I had her pegged as nine / ten while reading and was shocked to find out she was thirteen towards the end). The Rapunzel analogy was sort of cute, but, again, something about it didn’t work. A few things happened later in the book that seemed added for the sole purpose of having some sort of action-y climax, and the ending left me feeling less “happily ever after” and more “huh, well, don’t think a kid with a depressed parent should read this.” I think ten-year-old me was smart to avoid the “self-help” fiction genre. Not recommended.

Coming up: Maisie's Southern Warmth ...

Yes, I Am That Shallow

2011-07-21T22:29:00.000-07:00

I'll fully admit that, on April 29, I woke up to watch a certain wedding live.

And, while I'm being honest, I'll admit there's a certain duchess whose fashion choices I very much admire. Excuse me for sounding like an old biddy, but it's so refreshing to see a young woman in the public eye dress fashionably but not slutty and/or ridiculous. Fingers crossed she'll help usher in a new, more conservative age of fashion, one of that embraces a women's curves while allowing for more than two yards of fabric.

Anyway, THE wedding dress is going on display this weekend in London. It's fun to see pictures of the dress (hence the link to a British tabloid ... which, while short on substance, is great on always having lots of big pictures to overshadow the mindless text). I'm also glad I finally got see the shoes and accessories up close (although, I have to admit, many of them looked much better as an outfit on a person than individually).

With that, I'm going to go read some really dense, dry book about something important like the debt or climate change to prove I'm not completely fluff.

A Good Defeat

2011-07-17T16:51:00.000-07:00

I spent three hours of my life today in my living room, transfixed to my television. The bad news? I didn't get to see the U.S. women hoist the trophy and probably did some permanent damage to my poor heart. The good news? I managed a great two-hour workout (high-stress sporting events do wonders for kicking my exercise routine up a notch).

I can't say I'm happy the U.S lost, but I can't think of a better team to win than Japan. I was very much hoping Japan would lose to Sweden, because it's not much fun cheering against a team that's representing a country that's had (to put it mildly) a really bad year. Frankly, I would have preferred Germany and a home-field advantage in the final to Japan. If Japan had faced off against any team but the U.S., I would have been cheering for them. They were the short, scrappy underdogs not expected to do much and carrying the weight of a disaster-stricken country on their shoulders. Cheering against that? Well, it makes me feel like a Yankees fan and who wants that?

There's another silver lining to take from Japan's win: for the first time in the history of the World Cup (men's and women's), a team from Asia won. More than that, Japan's victory suggests that women's sports are becoming more accepted internationally, that it's not just a handful of the same few teams competing in the finals every year. As a fan, it's more exciting to watch your team have to really compete for something rather than just cruise to the victory (I'm looking at you, Olympic basketball).

As an American, I'm disappointed. But as a feminist, a lover of international tournaments, and a supporter of women's sports, I'm willing to take what Japan's victory means in the grand scheme of things as a pretty nice consolation prize.

4-0-NO MORE

2011-07-16T13:07:00.000-07:00

I am so sick of the numerals 4-0-5.

Yes, I get it. It's an important thoroughfare. I'm glad the closure was well publicized, but there's well-publicized and then there's making-the-winter-storm-watch-updates-for-a-drizzle-look-conservative sensationalism. Who knows, maybe something will happen in the next thirty hours that will make the hype understandable.

I've lived in LA for eleven years. In that time, I have dealt with any number of closures that were barely publicized. I have been routed off freeways, taken on unmarked detours, and more than once directed into some of the most dangerous neighborhoods of Los Angeles. For that matter, just yesterday I noticed that the 134 onramp near Old Town Pasadena has been closing at 7 pm every evening for the past week. Why no mention of that?

The longer I live in LA, the more I notice the divide between news that happens on the Westside and news that happens on the Eastside. I don't think it's entirely an issue of class or economics - I just think the media seems to consider whatever happens on the Westside of LA five times more important.

Frankly, it doesn't help that the news stations in Los Angeles seem to have a requirement that all anchors are idiots and look like either porn stars or creepy old men who watch porn. I sort of resent the Founding Fathers not inserting a clause after freedom of the press that citizens should be free from the press's overreactive stupidity.

Anyway, I could continue to whine about how this weekend is making me remember everything I don't like about this city, but mostly I'm here to post an article that will make anyone who has ever lived on the Eastside chuckle. Residents around the 405 closure are complaining about the helicopters. They even requested a statement from the FAA about the safety. I think it might be time some of them get down off their mountain and experience the Los Angeles ninety-nine percent of Angelenos live in.

Lessons from Catching Games

2011-07-15T12:32:00.000-07:00

Part 9 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – Children battling to death as a spectator sport isn’t a fictionalized account I normally have much interest in cracking open. But this book has become so popular that I had to see what the big deal was, and well, it’s good. Sufficiently compelling characters, a quick pace, typical teen angst in the midst of life-or-death situations, and some truly disturbing parallels to our own society fill these pages. For example, as the Hunger Games unfolded, I kept thinking of the recent studies coming out about the long-term health implications for NFL players: adoration and riches for the lucky few who make it to the top but with a sizeable risk of life-altering injuries and early death, and how the NFL is a sort of sanitized, easy-to-stomach version of the game that’s the center of this book. Readers can draw any number of parallels between what happens in the book and what they experience in their own lives. The book succeeds in being a surprisingly entertaining read while still remaking the dystopian novel for modern times. I expected the novel to be disturbing – and I do think Ms. Collins appropriately captured the various angles of this fictional tyranny – but there’s a deeper cruelty running through the book that made me unable to fully embrace what is, all in all, a well-told story. I’m eager to read the rest of the series, not so much because I’m invested in these characters, but because I want to see how Ms. Collins resolves this dark and violent tale and how that underlying cruelty may shape the story to come. Recommended.

A Reason to Believe: Lessons from an Improbable Life by Governor Deval Patrick – I generally avoid political memoirs and autobiographies. Listening to political spin is entirely different than investing time into 200-plus pages of it. After seeing Governor Patrick on The Daily Show, however, I decided to give his book a chance. I should have stuck with my avoidance strategy. This is mindless political tripe at its finest, full of lofty sentiments with no real backbone and stories with uplifting morals but no hard lessons. To be fair, Governor Patrick’s story is interesting, but this book wanders and is neither separate essays nor a cohesive narrative but instead a disjointed mess of both. For example, the first chapter reads like a chronological extended acknowledgments section, while another chapter is essentially an essay about studying abroad, written in a way that makes it seem like Governor Patrick considers his time as a citizen of the world unique, despite it being fairly similar to the experiences of the thousands of Americans who go abroad annually. There’s some decent stuff in places, but, for me, the last chapter undermined even the positives: Governor Patrick jumps on Obama’s coattails and proceeds to claim a share of credit for Obama’s 2008 election. I understand why a mention of Obama was warranted (and, hey, I’ll fully admit I like telling people I also took a class from Obama’s favorite professor in college), but the way in which it was written made Governor Patrick seem like both a desperate celebrity groupie and some mythical man behind the curtain, neither of which reflects well upon him. I realize this review is getting rather long, but I want to add one more reason why people should skip this book: Governor Patrick talks about the need to overcome cynicism in American society. On that, he and I are in complete agreement. That said, this book made me more cynical. In my experience, a good deal of cynicism stems from listening to people in power spin fairy tales of success while paying lip service to helping the less fortunate without doing anything of substance. I finished this book thinking that, yes, Governor Patrick has indeed led an improbable life, but what I found even more remarkable is that, despite such an improbable life, his view of the world is so very divorced from reality. Not recommended.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins – For those planning to read the sequels to The Hunger Games, let me suggest something: Avoid reading anything about them until after you finish. I accidentally found out a few things from sources that generally don’t give away plot points, which was incredibly frustrating. Anyway, on with my review (which I’ve tried to make safe for those who have not read the book): There’s a lot I like about this book, and I had a tremendously hard time putting it down. The whole book has an absolutely terrifying tension, and I credit much of that with Ms. Collins’s ability to create a truly evil authoritarian government. Too often, writers shy away from making the bad guys truly bad – they have some sort of weakness, or there’s some sort of loophole, or readers can even sense the writer isn’t going to follow through on what’s been threatened. Within this book, I fully believe there is nothing this government will not do to keep power and that Ms. Collins will not back down from what she’s established. When it’s mentioned the characters feel trapped, it’s easy to understand why. To me, this pervasive fear is the book’s biggest strength, and it compensates for some of the book’s weaker parts. Ms. Collins does a good job giving the characters more complexity, and I do like what she’s done with Katniss. Katniss is remarkably smart at times, but there’s an unmentioned immaturity that keeps her seeming like the teenager she is. In other words, at times I couldn’t believe how absolutely clueless this smart, good-hearted kid could be, which is a pretty good approximation of what I remember about being a teenager. The plot, while not the strongest, was good, but I did find the pacing a bit off and certain sections full of too-convenient events. All in all, though, I found this a good sequel to The Hunger Games and, despite my good intentions, I doubt I’ll have much restraint in waiting to read the third book. Did I mention how glad I am that I’m reading this as a completed trilogy? Recommended.

Coming up: The Age of Running Rapunzel ...

Frozen Treats

2011-07-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

For Christmas, one of the unexpected gifts I received was the ice cream attachment for my Kitchenaid.

Being able to make whatever flavor of ice cream I want? Good.

Not so good? Making custard is one of the few things I honestly do not enjoy doing. So I've spent the past six months experimenting with all sorts of ice creams and sorbets that do not require any sort of custard making. Not all of them have been hits, but I have at least learned a couple of goods rules about freezing stuff (vodka in sorbet, for one).

To date, all of the biggest successes have been fruit-based sorbets. Then ... then I discovered Buttermilk Peach Ice Cream. No cooking, easy assembly... and the taste. Oh, the taste. Tangy and rich with a hint of sweetness. I ate (at least) two servings when it was in the soft-serve stage before the deep freeze. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to look at regular soft serve the same way again.

So if you too have an ice cream machine and want to use some lightly-bruised peaches in a dessert, allow me to suggest this recipe.

Uncommon Loneliness, Volume I

2011-07-08T13:13:00.000-07:00

Part 8 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

The subtitle of this post is Brit Lit. I really need to stop reading less British literature, or I'm going to have to start referring to myself as an Anglophile. Soon, I'll be doddering around some little faux English cottage in the Southern California desert, asking visitors if they'd like some crumpets and scones with a nip of tea. In my defense: it's not my fault the British have such a bloody good way with words.

The Uncommon Reader: A Novella by Alan Bennett – A random foray into a mobile library opens the world of literature to Queen Elizabeth. This is an insightful satire that packs a tremendous amount into 120 pages – few books twice its length contain such a rich combination of dry humor and smart commentary. One of the book’s strengths is the respect it affords Queen Elizabeth. Mr. Bennett is by no means deferential to the monarchy; he merely understands and exploits its (and the government’s) quirks while still respecting the people within those institutions. One of the best pieces of fiction I’ve read in recent memory. Highly, highly recommended.

The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Vol. 1 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (with an introduction by Kyle Freeman; Barnes and Noble Classics ed.) – What can I say that hasn’t already been said about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson? Some of the stories are brilliant, some are rather transparent, but all make for an entertaining read. I read this volume over the course of about two months – picking it up and reading a story or two in between other books, partially to help keep the tales separate in my mind and partially to prolong my enjoyment of these stories. I will, however, add one comment about these stories (with the caveat that I have read almost none of the scholarship surrounding the mythos of Sherlock Holmes): I can’t help but feel that the stories reflected Conan Doyle’s level of interest in his quirky creation – in some of the middle tales, his frustration over returning again and again to Holmes seemed an almost tangible thing. There is a tremendous shift, however, in The Hound of the Baskervilles, which finishes this volume. Energy pervades this story, and I credit that rather than the plot itself (which I did not find the strongest of the volume) to why it is so well known. Written nearly a decade after the previous installment, I couldn’t help but feel Conan Doyle had finally accepted Sherlock Holmes as the centerpiece of his life as an author and was, finally, truly engaged in penning these mysteries. I cannot wait to crack open Volume 2 – although I’m hoping to wait as long as possible, since finishing those will end my initial foray into the world of Holmes and Watson. Recommended.

The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner by Alan Sillitoe – A collection of short stories centered on England’s working class between the 1930s and 1950s, these tales are sparse character studies of sometimes unsentimental protagonists. I enjoyed them, mostly because they captured a time and way of life that is frequently mined in creative works but seldom so deftly sketched – these stories are neither sentimental fluff of the good ole days nor darkly pessimistic tripe. They did, however, remind me a great deal of the novels (A Separate Peace and The Outsiders, to name two) I read as a student in that they begged for discussion and analysis. I have to admit I felt a bit bereft over not having detailed introductions written by a scholar, explanatory footnotes, other literary analysis, or even the possibility to discuss what I’d read. In short, my high school English teacher would be proud of her lasting impact on my reading habits – even if I will admit that too much scrutiny would likely reduce the simplicity and strength of these tales. Highly recommended.

Coming up: Lessons from Catching Games ...

Pink Wedding Genius

2011-07-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

Part 7 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

The Wedding: A Novel by Dorothy West – Published in the early 1990s, this novel traces the legacy of a prominent African-American family in the 1950s on the eve of the youngest daughter’s marriage to a white jazz musician. It’s less a traditional novel than a meditation of what was and what happened during Ms. West’s life. I’ve read other attempts at a similar dynamic, but most of them feel forced – a sort of desperate attempt by an author to prove he or she is artistic and deep. In comparison, this novel succeeds because of Ms. West’s age and that she not only lived through the time period, she had forty years to reflect back upon it. I can’t say I loved it – the ending seemed rushed after the slow, meandering flow of the first three-fourths of the novel – but I am glad I read it. Recommended.

Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow Into Troublesome Gaps – And What We Can Do About It by Lise Eliot – I decided to pick up this book after a few references to it in the press surrounding the publication of Peggy Orenstein’s Cinderella Ate My Daughter – understandably, since it’s the more studious, non-gender-specific cousin to Ms. Orenstein’s book. Dr. Eliot is a neuroscientist and mother to a daughter and two sons. She uses both areas of expertise to her advantage in this book – in any given section, she’s likely to not only explain the science and give a couple of examples but put it in the context of her own experience. It’s an odd but eminently workable mixture – albeit more geared towards parents than I expected. As a happily childless singleton, I found the book fascinating, if a somewhat time-consuming read. It made me appreciate how much the people around a child subtly and unknowingly influence that child’s development from an incredibly early age. The book is thorough in delineating the complex relationship between nature and nurture, but it also underlines how much we do not know about the two and how they shape and inform each person. Recommended.

I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President by Josh Lieb – My local library’s teen group had this listed as one of their recommended reads, and I owe them a debt of thanks. Being older than fourteen, I find most of the sarcastic-and-hip YA and children’s books somewhat pathetic – reminiscent of teachers who are desperate to prove to their students that they’re cool. This book doesn’t treat teens like idiots or resort to cheap jokes – something I chalk up to Mr. Lieb’s career. He’s an executive producer of The Daily Show, and the book uses that same formula of smart, mocking humor with heart. Everyone in Omaha knows Oliver Watson, Jr. as a fat, stupid seventh grader, and that’s what he wants them to think. In actuality, he’s the second-wealthiest person in the world (or fourth, depending on whether he’s tried to overthrow a third-world dictator in the past couple of months), impervious to the normal fixations of his classmates – that is, until he decides to run for class president. Highly recommended.

Coming up: Uncommon Loneliness, Volume 1 ...

Prius-driving Hippie Super Soldiers

2011-06-30T15:05:00.000-07:00

Jon Stewart and The Daily Show writing staff have been having a lot of fun at the expense of Fox News for the past couple of weeks. Really, if Fox News ever went under, I worry that might be the end of The Daily Show.

But something else has managed to trump Jon Stewart. I bring you:

The Glenn Beck Conspiracy Theory Generator

The Return of the Herring and the Science of Acting

2011-06-24T11:23:00.000-07:00

Part 6 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

A Red Herring Without Mustard (Flavia de Luce No. 3) by Alan Bradley – Flavia and the denizens of Bishop’s Lacy return in a story that is good but too busy. It’s entirely normal for murder mysteries to be full of various subplots and characters – and, as the title suggests, this book is full of them. But there are too many here, resulting in a plot that never gains steam – instead of creating tension and a long list of suspects, the overly-crowded pages defuse the suspense. The book hints at a bigger transition within the series, and while it in no way dampened my enthusiasm for Flavia and her hijinks, I was disappointed. Don’t get me wrong – this is a good book. The problem is that Mr. Bradley set the bar high in the first two. Recommended.

Acting White: The Ironic Legacy of Desegregation by Stuart Buck – The thesis of this book is simple: “acting white” (that is, labeling educational achievement and success as a betrayal of a student’s African-American heritage) is a result of desegregation. Controversial but fascinating, Mr. Buck not only convinced me that he was onto something, he presented desegregation and the history of education in the African-American community in a way that was entirely new to me. For all that desegregation was morally right, he presents readers with numerous examples of the reality of desegregation, which is not quite the pristine victory most history books portray. The book has two weaknesses, although I didn’t find either of them to undermine the book’s strengths. For one, Mr. Buck is almost too timid. He repeatedly points out that this book is not intended to paint desegregation as a bad thing and that his thesis is based primarily on anecdotal evidence and not hard data. Glad he made that clear, but he fell back on both points too much – a mention in the introduction and conclusion would have been sufficient. Unfortunately, the last chapter journeys into sociology and suggestions that seem disconnected from the previous 140 pages. They are small quibbles, however, and the book is excellent even with them. Highly recommended.

The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West – Perhaps this makes me a simpleton, but I didn’t like this book. Yes, I appreciate its historical significance in being the first novel written about the Great War by a woman. Yes, the plot hints at something wonderful. And, yes, I found the ending surprisingly good. Mostly because, unlike the majority of the book, the action at the end was shown rather than told through unending descriptions and thoughts of what was likely happening. It’s also the only point in the book where the characters were anything more than shadow puppets. In an intellectual sense, I can appreciate what Ms. West was doing, that she was playing with the elements of storytelling and writing much as an artist pushes the boundaries of what paint and a brush can do. As a reader, I wanted more from this story. In the end, I found this a rather dull attempt to delve into the depths of human emotions, and there are many other books that tackle these issues and not at the expense of the plot and characters. Despite that, part of me is glad I read this book because it is significant in the history of literature and it did try to do something new (although if it had been any longer, I'd probably feel differently). Quasi-recommended.

The Science of Fear: Why We Fear the Things We Shouldn’t – and Put Ourselves in Greater Danger by Daniel Gardner – Couldn’t finish it. I like pop non-fiction, but this book was simply too dumb. Yes, it has some interesting information, but the style of writing is repetitive and written in such a basic manner that, as a reader, I was insulted. No, I’m not a science person, but I’m not that stupid. More than that, some of the examples struck me as simply wrong. For example, Mr. Gardner suggested that we have anti-doping laws out of fear of the consequences of doping when the activities engaged in are much more dangerous. I follow enough of the conversation in the sports world about doping that this bothered me tremendously – yes, steroids have side effects, but the underlying reason is not because they might cause death but because of a desire to encourage fairness and an equal competition field. That’s simply sloppy research, and it makes me wonder what other points an author is not properly relaying. I read some really outstanding work last year that brought science and the study of human behavior to a general audience – The Shallows and On Rumors instantly come to mind – and this one is a weak contender in comparison. Maybe it should take some steroids. Not recommended.

Coming up: Pink Wedding Genius ...

Rigging Elections

2011-06-22T11:37:00.000-07:00

During my second year in law school, I was trying to find a "fun" class, and a friend suggested I take Election Law with her. Frankly, other than Bush v. Gore, I didn't real know what election law was, but the guy teaching it was well-respected nationally and the friend was always a fun class buddy, so I signed up and promptly got a four-month schooling in election law (and the politics behind election law) that left me with an entirely different perspective on U.S. elections. It led to me working the polls for several elections (a simultaneously educational and depressing endeavor), and I still keep a toe in the election law world as far as news articles and the like.

Here's what I learned by both studying and doing:

Running a fair election is hard.
Yes, fraud does occur. No, none of the current ideas for combating it address the problem and, frankly, it's better to have a more open system because, like it or not, people who want to commit voter fraud will always find a way around the system, and a more difficult voting process just dissuades people from voting.
The single biggest threat to our electoral system is the Republican Party.

Now, I know that this last one sounds like liberal grandstanding and makes me sound like I drank the Blue Conspiracy KoolAid. This is not to say the Democrats are blameless (they're not) or that the two big dogs never collude as it suits their interests to maintain their join hold on the American political system (they very much do). But when it comes to disenfranchising Americans, the Republicans win the prize.

An op-ed in Sunday's Washington Post nicely details the increasing efforts to craft election laws to suit Republican candidates.

Look, I make no bones about being a liberal. Yes, I do think the country would be better off embracing a more liberal ideology, but what I hold most dear is the right of the people to elect the candidates that best represent them. I don't like when either party messes with our electoral system to suit their selfish desires.

If you have to change the rules to win, then it's time to admit defeat and maybe take the time to actually listen to people. If districts have to be gerrymandered so that Glendale votes with Santa Monica while Hollywood votes with Pomona, then maybe it's time to stop creating solidly Republican or solidly Democrat districts. If the only way one party can win is by rigging laws to suit their constituents to the detriment of everyone else, then it's time to step back and realize that what's best for the party is not what's best for the country.

Screw supporting a candidate. I'm for Fair and Open Elections in 2012.

The Making of a Good Season

2011-06-17T17:50:00.000-07:00

Part 5 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

An Unfinished Season: A Novel by Ward S. Just – Set in 1950s Chicago (and its environs), this is a coming-of-age tale that hints at being something great but instead falls into worn-out plotlines (in the past year, I can recall reading at least two other novels with similar plots and resolutions). The story of nineteen-year-old Wils Ravan hits the ground running with a unique style and a plot and setting interwoven so as to suggest a richly nuanced story. The promising start, however, gives way to drawn-out introspection and wisps of something substantial before sputtering to a clichéd ending. There’s some truly beautiful writing here and some keen insights into the tension of the 1950s, but they’re little more than window dressing. If anything, as a reader, I resent a writer thinking a few bells and whistles will make me consider a book serious literature when it has all the trappings of a nighttime soap opera. In short, this is merely one more story about rich teenagers encountering Real Life and discovering Real Life is harder than it seems. Not recommended.

The Making of a Marchioness and The Methods of Lady Walderhurst by Frances Hodgson Burnett – These stories – Lady Walderhurst is the sequel to the Cinderella-inspired Marchioness – are a far cry from the Burnett novels I read as a child. On the surface, they are little more than late Victorian chick lit: Marchioness is a fairy-tale romance while Lady Walderhurst is an uneven melodrama. The protagonist, Emily Fox-Seton, is a wide-eyed, cloyingly innocent lady who frequently made this modern girl cringe (although I did sort of like reading about a legitimately nice and modest heroine – what a change from the self-centered, blank-slate-but-cute-and-charmingly-neurotic women who populate modern chick lit). On the surface, then, I’d well understand why both books went out of print for several years – except they are much more than melodramatic romances. Together – and they really should be read together – they are a Victorian novel with teeth, a nuanced, layered story hidden under the childlike simplicity of Emily Fox-Seton. The juxtaposition of serious subjects against a fanciful plot makes it a somewhat unsettling read. I expected a mindless diversion and instead found myself, upon finishing the book, contemplating it in a way normally reserved for dense non-fiction. All the same, I plan to reread this at some point – partially because I’ve never quite encountered anything like it and partially because, knowing what to expect, I’ll be better equipped to look beneath the somewhat ridiculous frills. Highly recommended.

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti – I’d heard good things about this tale of a one-armed orphan adopted by a man claiming to be his brother. I’ve read two similar books in the past year – orphan adopted by ne’er do wells for nefarious schemes, although both of those were targeted to children – and this one paled in comparison to those, which both had their faults but were charming. This plot is engaging (if predictable) and some of the characters are fun, but that’s true of many books. Here, the violence was unnecessarily graphic (this is definitely not a children’s book) while lacking the more complex plot I prefer when reading a children’s book written for adults. There are a lot of loose ends and convenient occurrences, all in a setting that seemed artificial and dependent upon Ms. Tinti’s whims in crafting the story. I would perhaps be more forgiving of the book’s quirks if not for the ending. I absolutely loathed the book’s shoehorned happy ending that was simultaneously saccharine sweet and disturbing. And yes, what follows is a major spoiler: among many other things, there is nothing endearing about an alcoholic thief adopting two kids. I felt like I was supposed to believe that everything was fine now that they had money, but all I could think is: What happens when the happily ever after wears off and Daddy Drunk has to deal with another bad event or two in life? There’s a reason most books involving orphans and evil adults usually end with said orphan discovering a different, loving family. Not recommended.

Coming up: The Return of the Herring and the Science of Acting ...

Cinderella Unequally Ate Make Believe

2011-06-10T12:45:00.000-07:00

Part 4 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

The Case for Make-Believe: Saving Play in Our Commercialized World by Susan Linn – This is an odd amalgamation of a book. It’s not a guide for parents. It’s neither an academic treatise nor an unbiased study. It’s not a memoir. It is, however, a bit of all of these things, resulting in a broad survey for a general audience. While the book is disjointed in places, the format enabled Dr. Linn to cover a good deal of ground in less than 250 pages. Personally, I liked her approach, as I’m not so interested in the subject that I want to crack open a dense 500-page tome and spend a month wading through it. One thing I didn’t expect – and some readers may dislike – is how Dr. Linn placed her views on make believe in the context of her larger belief system. As a reader, I appreciated that openness as it allowed me to better understand both why she arrived at various conclusions and why I might diverge with her thinking on some topics. Recommended.

Inherently Unequal: The Betrayal of Equal Rights by the Supreme Court, 1865-1903 by Lawrence Goldstone – I wanted so much more from this book. The Supreme Court’s complicity towards racism in the 19th Century is covered – albeit in less detail – in law school, but the book never ventures beyond hinting at an elevated legal and political analysis of the subject. If anything, the book strikes me as a survey intended for a general audience – except that the style and tone are more suited to a legal audience. I relied on my own study of the law to fill in some of the blanks in the analysis, and I have no idea how someone without a legal background would fare. In short, it’s difficult to pinpoint who is intended as the target audience: it’s sufficiently rooted in legal style to be off putting to those without legal training while offering little more than a detailed review for most attorneys. Mr. Goldstone also operates on a number of assumptions – which are entirely necessary to keep the book at a tidy 200 pages – except he does not make those controlled factors clear from the start. This is a decent book – and I wish more people were familiar with this period in the Supreme Court’s history – but I found it more frustrating than enlightening. Not recommended.

Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture by Peggy Orenstein – Those looking for either a definitive solution or a how-to guide on navigating the pink-princess-slut-girl-power maze of modern marketing for girls (and women) should go elsewhere – same for those wanting an in-depth treatise on the subject. The best way to describe this would be a research-laden memoir. I enjoyed it tremendously, mostly because Ms. Orenstein is confident enough to share both her opinions and her uncertainties. At times I was agreeing with every single word and at other places – I’ll admit – I wondered why Ms. Orenstein had to be such an arrogant shrew. And, odd as it sounds, that combination works wonders for this subject: she perfectly captures that uncertainty of modern femininity, of trying to determine what is harmless and what seems harmless but instead undermines girls (and women). It’s a dialogue rather than a pronouncement, an addition to a continuing discussion, allowing readers ample room in which to draw their own conclusions and continue the discussion. Highly recommended.

Coming up: The Making of a Good Season ...

June Winter

2011-06-09T12:21:00.000-07:00

Crews are continuing to clear snow from Route 120, which brings visitors into Yosemite.

Having been on Route 120 (AKA Tioga Road), this story both fascinated and terrified me. Needless to say, sticking a bunch of explosives in snow to prevent avalanches is not on my to-do list for life.

Politics, Vicars, and Tigers (Oh my)

2011-06-03T12:42:00.000-07:00

Part 3 of Books I Read in 2011

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Blood and Politics: The History of the White Nationalist Movement from the Margins to the Mainstream by Leonard Zeskind – I finished this book several days ago, and I still have no idea how to write a concise review about it. This is a monster of a book – 545 pages (without notes), covering over forty years of the white nationalist movement and picking up on many of the small details within both the movement and wider American culture. I can’t even wrap my head around the amount of time and effort this book took to research and write (publicity materials say fifteen years, and I’d well believe it). In short, I feel like a jerk for saying that all of that effort did not lead to a top-notch book, and it’s only the amount of research that makes me label it a good book. The writing and organization derail this book. There are too many tangents, odd pacing, and, at times, a weak grasp on the material (mostly when Mr. Zeskind journeys to topics outside of white nationalism). Unnecessary adjectives are liberally scattered throughout the book and consistently undermine the analysis. I could see where Mr. Zeskind wanted to go, but the book falls short. Not recommended (although, if you can find a short article on this subject written by Mr. Zeskind, it’s likely worth the time).

The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith – When Doctor Primrose loses his fortune, his family faces a number of (convenient) misfortunes. I began this book thinking it was a sentimental novel and was therefore thrown by Doctor Primrose reminding me of Ms. Austen’s infamous Mr. Collins. But The Vicar of Wakefield is a sentimental novel of the satirical sort, and when viewed in that light, it’s a smart and subtle novel. Mr. Goldsmith achieved a difficult feat in both knowing the genre well enough to gently satirize it while giving the story heart and keen insight. Highly recommended.

Tigerheart by Peter David – This quasi-sequel to Peter Pan starts out promising: Paul Dear, determined to end his mother’s grief after a family tragedy, journeys to the Anyplace (Mr. David’s name for Neverland), where he meets Fiddlefix (Tinkerbell), The Boy (Peter Pan), and many other familiar-but-not characters. Mr. David offers some astute commentary and pretty imagery – along with some genuinely touching scenes that are straight from the Pixar School of emotional manipulation – but an overly involved narrator and a mismatched plot kept this book from being a page-turning adventure. Everything about it seemed a step off, and I found parts of it – even during action scenes – boring. Part of the problem may simply be that the original story is a difficult act to follow and Mr. David’s original characters pale in comparison to Barrie’s. All the same, not recommended.

Coming up: Cinderella Unequally Ate Make Believe ...

Styles

2011-05-27T15:38:00.000-07:00

Part 2 of Books I Read in 2011

A Slight Deviation ...
One thing I wanted to mention last week but forgot: During and before law school, I amassed quite the collection of leisure-time reading - few of which were actually read due to, well, being a little busy with law school. I also own a handful of books that, for one reason or another, have sat on my shelf unfinished for years. One of my goals this year is to begin to make a dent in my two shelves of unread / unfinished books (yes, I reorganized my shelves - all of my unread books are now on the middle shelves, staring at me and making me feel bad). I say all of this because, well, a portion of these books were gifts, and I don't want anyone who gave me a book to notice that I'm just now getting around to reading a very thoughtful gift from four Christmases ago and thinking I didn't appreciate the gift. I very much did. I would explain why it is that I seem to be very good at collecting but not always reading books (yes, I have a whole theory on it), but everything I've written to try and explain leaves me sounding like an absolute nut. So let's just leave it this: Thank you for giving me books. Please don't take it personally that I sometimes don't read them immediately.

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

The Elements of Style (Fiftieth Anniversary Edition) by William Strunk, Jr., and E.B. White (AKA Strunk and White’s) – I think I’m outraged about the state of education in the United States when I go through two decades of formal education without having this book assigned. Everyone should not only read this book but also own it, because, let’s be honest, using it as a reference is as important as reading it. Sure, parts of it are a little outdated, but it’s concise and a good deal easier to understand than most grammar books (and textbooks) on the market – and, as far as I’m concerned, we could do with more traditional formality in written English. If, like me, you never read this book in school, you missed an important part of your education. Go read it. Right now. You won’t be sorry (although, if you’re anything like me, upon finishing the book, you’ll become slightly paranoid about your writing not living up to the standard suggested by Strunk and White’s). Highly Recommended.

Stylized: A Slightly Obsessive History of Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style by Mark Garvey – Great concept, mediocre execution. If anything, this book ably demonstrates a rule missing from Strunk and White’s: Similar to fashion, too many accessories ruin a good thing. Mr. Garvey tries to do too many things in 200 pages – Biographies! Literary critique! Commentary! – making it hard to sit down and simply read. It’s an inadvertent rendering of the Vegas strip and all its distractions in book form, given all of the boxes and anecdotes breaking up the flow of the narrative. The story is interesting enough that with a better approach to the material, this book could have been an example of a small-subject book extending its reach beyond a niche audience. Quasi-recommended.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie – Here’s what I didn’t like:

Reading Ms. Christie’s debut novel ninety years after its first publication, many of these set pieces and characters are tired and overused.
The ending didn’t end. It just kept going. And it was too cutesy.

But the negatives are not what matter. What matter is that, even with those quibbles, even ninety years and who knows how many books and movies playing in the same generic sandbox later, Ms. Christie’s debut novel is still smart enough to tell a good story. Yes, readers have seen this sort of whodunit before, but, after reading my first Agatha Christie novel, I’m convinced her enduring legacy is predominately due to the fact she was a mystery writer smart enough to craft a good mystery. And, really, that’s what matters in a mystery: good characters and brilliant writing cannot prop up a weak plot, but even old and tired set pieces cannot drag down a story that keeps readers guessing until the (almost) last page. Recommended.

Coming up: Politics, Vicars, and Tigers (Oh my)

Who Watches the Watchers?

2011-05-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

Legal ethics are weird.

They're weird because what makes for an ethical lawyer is not what most people on the street would consider ethical. Not speaking up about other crimes a client may have committed doesn't mesh with lofty sentiments about justice always prevailing, but it's vital to ensure a solid attorney-client relationship. An attorney's duty is, after all, to his or her client and not the general public. In short, legal ethics are full of these little gems that take what most of us know about ethical behavior and twist it.

I'm glad the legal community does acknowledge the need for rules to govern the conduct of people who make their careers working within society's rules, although much remains to be done. The current "ethics" test wannabe attorneys take is this side of a joke, and I very much hope the coming years will see an evolution of that test to something that better indoctrinates young attorneys to proper ethics. More than that, more needs to be done to ensure actual ethical behavior once practicing - as it stands, the "ethics" exam is good at testing memorization but not so great when it comes to instilling anything of substance, and the amount of unethical behavior practicing attorneys get away with damages the profession as a whole.

Which brings me to the crux of today's ramblings: Judges have different ethical standards and codes of professional conduct than attorneys. It stands to reason, of course: when it comes right down to it, judges are neutral arbitrators and attorneys are persuaders. I've taken all of the classes that teach this sort of thing, yet until today, I didn't know that the U.S. Supreme Court is somehow exempt from the codes of professional conduct that govern the rest of the legal profession.

I don't like to admit it, but in law school, I developed a certain level of respect for Clarence Thomas. He and I don't agree on much, but I came to appreciate the consistency of his opinions. This is a man who truly seemed to hold to a consistent legal viewpoint and method of interpreting both the Constitution and laws, and well, it's hard not to respect that because it shows a respect for our nation's laws and a desire to decide cases based on those laws rather than personal whims. Needless to say, the information that started to trickle out about him last year disappointed me. As a young attorney with no power, finding out that I was, in many respects, held to a higher ethical and professional standard than a man who sat on our nation's highest court gets to the very heart of our legal profession's problems. It's not even that I think he and his associates should be held to a higher standard but rather answer to the same laws and rules that govern the rest of the legal profession.

I'm glad to see a bill is now in front of Congress that would begin to hold the Supreme Court to the same ethical standards that apply to the rest of the federal judiciary. Once upon a time, presidents tended to appoint individuals who, regardless of political belief, represented the best of the American judiciary. Appointments are now little more than political posturing and, unfortunately, that's unlikely to change; however, we can and should ensure that, once on the court, politics takes a back seat to true judicial scholarship.

Racists Running Races

2011-05-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

Part 1 of Books I Read in 2011

I've missed posting my book list. Last year, it became a weekly ritual and, odd as it may sound, I enjoyed it. I'm at a point for this year where I've read enough books that I should have a sufficient cushion to restart the habit. If not, well, there will be a few weeks when I don't post. Not a big deal.

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to Goodreads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Running and Breathing by Justin O’Brien – When a book includes the typo ‘snf’ in place of ‘and,’ it needed an editor prior to publication. When a book includes an entire paragraph with commas instead of periods, it needed an editor prior to publication. When a book … well, I think I’ve made my point. There’s some decent information here, but it’s mostly directed at true beginners – I’m an advanced beginner on a good day, and much of the information was too basic even for me. And the editing. Oh, the editing. Honestly, I’m not even sure the author read this book prior to publication. Not recommended.

Religion and the Racist Right: The Origins of the Christian Identity Movement by Michael Barkun – Informative, dense, and repetitive, I’m torn about this book. On the one hand, Dr. Barkun carefully charted the history and ideology of the Christian Identity Movement to show how that group justifies its racist ideology. On the other hand, the book repeatedly covers the same topics, adding length without any new information, while lacking necessary background at the beginning and rushing through the third section on Christian Identity’s place within the modern white separatist movement. There’s a lot of good information here, and it definitely added a new dimension to my understanding of racist ideology, but I’m not convinced reading the whole book was worth the time and effort. The preface and conclusion, through, are an exceptional overview and summary of the book’s major points, and I think reading those two sections would be a sufficient alternative for most people interested in this subject. Quasi-recommended.

Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin – A non-fiction cross between a gossip rag and a dime-store thriller, I enjoyed this book but found it lightweight. It’s a breathy tome full stories and egos but light on analysis and leaning towards pandering to certain individuals – clearly, the authors wanted to make sure they could still work in Washington after this book was published. The failure to delve into the covert sexism featured throughout the campaign – with both Clinton and, much as I hate to admit it, Palin (although for very different reasons) – undermined the authors’ goals for me. It’s heavy on the Democrats, and while I do think their primary was the more interesting contest, the authors either needed to ditch the Republican sections and make it a story about Obama and Clinton or give the Republicans more pages. I could perhaps overlook many of my quibbles if the book had taken full advantage of the tension of these events – even when readers know the ending, good books can still maintain page-turning adrenaline – but the word choice and commentary within this book prevents that from occurring. It’s an entertaining enough read with some memorable tidbits, but it fails to explain why the 2008 election was so important beyond a few surface details. Quasi-recommended.

Coming up: Styles ...

No scandal. No shouted opinions. Just a story.

2011-05-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

The L.A. Times has a story today (via the Chicago Tribune) about a family of four. Both parents are blind, and they, in turn, adopted two blind children. It's a great human-interest piece: the sort that seems like it's disappearing amidst our hyper-wired, breaking-news culture.

Also, I'm completely stealing the thing about the socks.

Educating with Books

2011-05-15T08:44:00.000-07:00

I've sat here trying to think of some sort of comment to make about this article. I can't. It's just too depressing.

"If state education cuts are drastic, the librarians' only chance of keeping a paycheck is to prove they're qualified to be switched to classroom teaching. So LAUSD attorneys grill them."

America's Museum: Made in China

2011-04-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

As of late, I've generally hated Congress and remembered why I used to be a registered Republican: I like the idea of a small, efficient government. Neither party comes close to delivering on that (although I continue to lean left since they at least seem to have some hint of a grasp on reality), and the past few months have really driven home how much I hate politicians. They really give politics a bad name.

Anyway, I finally found something I do think Congress has a right to stick its nose into: Where the trinkets available in the Smithsonian gift shop are made. Here's a hint: Not here. And, of course, what started as a good idea turned into a call to de-fund the Smithsonian. Yes, that's brilliant. Let's cut off funding for a museum that's free for everyone and helps preserve our heritage because we don't like what they're selling in the gift shop. Oh, Congress, full of people who think cutting off their noses to spite their faces is good policy.

But back to the subject at hand. I like the idea of stuff sold in America's museums being made in America. Personally, I'm more and more trying to buy stuff that's made here (or fair trade), mostly because I think ensuring people can earn a decent wage is more effective than any government subsidy program (and is a pretty good way to end government subsidy programs). Buying stuff that falls into this rubric is not easy. In fact, I'm amazed at how difficult it sometimes is to find even one option that was not shipped thousands of miles after being assembled by someone earning pennies a day in Asia.

So I like the idea, but I'm not on board with de-funding the Smithsonian because no one in America makes a bust of George Washington. (One would hope this would be a good lesson for Congress on how screwy our modern economy is: in the quest for rock-bottom prices, we've made it nearly impossible to make items on our shores unless we want to chuck the minimum wage (which, in many parts of the country, isn't even a living wage)).

But I digress from my conclusion, which is a compromise: let the Smithsonian retain control over what it buys, allowing it to base what it stocks on customer demand. Just because they get some money from the federal government doesn't mean they shouldn't get to be capitalist. However, why not require the Smithsonian to post signs / make the information easily accessible about what percentage of its items were made in America and make sure those items are clearly marked and prominently displayed within their stores? It gives consumers additional information and allows them to make a choice without penalizing the Smithsonian for the sad state of our domestic manufacturing industry.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go look at the items I bought from the Smithsonian last year. I possibly have no idea where they were made and will admit that I sort of just assumed they were made in the U.S. Oops.

Forget college. Take the money and bet it in Vegas.

2011-04-23T13:15:00.000-07:00

Just my quarterly posting about the sad state of student loans in America.

[Insert my usual detailed analysis of why system is broken, why said system disadvantages lower-income students and further increases the divide between the "haves" and "have nots," how colleges are at fault, why the federal government needs much more extensive reforms, how it is becoming less and less possible to argue that student loans are worth the "risk," and close with some sentence that takes two seconds to read that I probably spend way too much time rewriting.]

Turmeric Tea

2011-04-22T16:50:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while, I try something that's a bit out there for me. Sometimes it's exciting - climbing to the top of Half Dome, going to Europe alone - and sometimes it's more mundane. This post today falls into the latter category.

I tried turmeric tea - which, I know, sounds gross - recently, and while the flavor did take a bit of getting used to, I'm really enjoying it. The best way to describe it would be chai tea with a kick. I would post a link, but I've read so many different recipes in the past week, I realized that I've combined them all and come up with my own version that has any number of variations. So here it is.

Turmeric tea

(for one cup of tea - adjust accordingly)

1 t. ground turmeric

1/2 - 3/4 t. cinnamon

1 - 2 t. fresh diced ginger (I've used ground as well, but the ground tends to have a more bitter flavor)

Dash of cayenne pepper

1 t. honey

Milk (I've tried two percent, half and half, soy, and coconut - the half and half is the richest, but the soy is my favorite)

Boil water with turmeric, cinnamon, and ginger. Once at a boil, allow to simmer for at least three minutes but less than ten. Strain into mug. Stir in honey and milk. Serve immediately.

Less work variation: Omit ginger. Boil water alone. Pour into mug and stir in rest of ingredients - as a warning, this method requires frequent stirring to keep mixture together.

Also: Yes, turmeric does turn stuff yellow. Baking soda and soap get everything off fairly easily - that said, I've been using the same spoon (washed in between) so as to avoid turning all of my spoons yellow. It's also possible to omit the turmeric (along with the cayenne pepper) for a really soothing cinnamon-and-ginger drink that requires less clean up.

Fun fact of the week: While doing this research, I discovered that it's recommended to not go over around 1 t. cinnamon per day as cinnamon, in larger doses, may be toxic to humans.

What Am I Cheering For?

2011-03-28T23:44:00.000-07:00

I find myself at a crossroads. I love the Colts. I will continue to hold Peyton Manning up as one of the last great athletes until the media sinks its claws into his own Tiger-esque scandal (because, let's face it, it's coming). I love fall Sundays that involve watching the game. I get a little sad every year when football season ends (AKA the day the Colts are eliminated from the season).

But I more and more feel like a Roman sitting in the Colosseum, cheering gladiators to their deaths. As much as I love football, my conscious keeps getting louder, demanding to know how I can talk about human rights and then cheer on men sustaining life-altering injuries. I don't particularly like it. I miss the days of innocence and ignorance when cheering for a football team was simply a fun event. I want to go back to before the studies began to trickle out about the dangers, before veterans began to speak up about the damage the sport did to their bodies.

This past Colts season made it impossible to ignore the risks of football. At one point during the season, so many of the Colts players were injured (or, as one announcer dubiously described them, "Peyton's toys"), it seemed like Manning was throwing to receivers who had been pulled out of the stands twenty minutes before the game. I'm fairly confident that, during some of those games, I saw Manning mouth any number of four-letter words. It was, honestly, painful to watch.

None of the injuries, though, bothered me quite so much as those sustained by Austin Collie. Collie's a second-year guy out of BYU, and he very quickly became my favorite after Manning. He and Manning - they click. Together they make football into an art form.

Collie came roaring out of the gates this year, and it seemed like he was ready to make that jump from good to great. Then he was sidelined with a thumb injury. He came back only to be sidelined by a concussion (the game was not televised here in Los Angeles, but my Facebook wall the day he was injured was littered with horseshoe heartbreak). He started to come back during one game only to quickly exit.

Then, in December, he came back. And he was on fire - all of that promise, he delivered. Manning, who spent a good part of the season looking beat down, returned to his old self. No offense to Collie, but the Manning-Collie on-field reunion was reminiscent of boy-reunited-with-long-lost-dog movies (and yes, I do realize the pun there).

And then there was The Hit. It was ugly, and it ended Collie's season. Four months later, thinking about it still makes me grimace. I remember watching Manning, looking close to tears, linger nearby as the medical staff examined Collie. And I remember later - either that game or the following week - a handful of calls (and non calls) both for and against the Colts that struck me as further proof that the league isn't much concerned with the health of its players, that a promising player like Austin Collie is only of interest to the league so long as he is healthy. That otherwise they'll dispose of him and find a replacement.

So, as a football fan, I'm conflicted. Watching players like Manning and Collie is a treat. I'd like nothing better than to see them take the field in August (along with Clark, Garcon, Saturday, et al) and spend the next six months living up to the potential hinted at last season. I want them to get that ring they deserved in 2010.

But.

But I'm not so selfish that I want a kid like Collie - who seems like a nice guy, is married with a daughter - to throw away the rest of his life for a few glorious Sundays. Yes, I know it is their choice to play, but it's becoming more and more difficult to not feel like an accessory rather than a bystander. And so, part of me wants that lock out, wants a year away from football so maybe I can make a break from a sport that seems less and less entertaining with each new study.

And so, I end this rambling entry with the article that inspired these thoughts and is shorter than this posting: NFL Veterans discuss the financial and medical costs of their careers.

American Modesty

2011-03-19T16:46:00.000-07:00

In the past couple of weeks, I've read two columns - from very different people - that both ended up circling around the decline of modesty and our increasingly self-centered culture. Now, I like to believe I'm a little more tuned into the people around me and a little more willing to help out my fellow man, but I'm sure plenty of people think the same about how they fit into the world. More than that, I have no doubt that many, many people can give me endless examples of times when I've been anything but modest. And, who knows, maybe stumbling upon these columns is a subtle hint from fate that I need to be a little more engaged in my community and the people around me.

I think there's more to it than that - I think they're part of a larger push-back against our me-obsessed culture. It seems to come up more in conversations, and there's this sense that something needs to change. That this demand for everything now, now, now cannot continue. That in our race to secure our own happiness and security, we've ignored everyone else, either deliberately or through willful blindness. Wall Street was and is a good example of that, but it's merely a magnified version of what occurs all over America. If you want a great example, tune into a House Hunters (especially the ones with young couples with $150,000 in the Midwest).

Anyway, David Brooks wrote an outstanding column last week that's stuck with me. And, in the February 2011 issue of Ladies Home Journal, there's an excerpt of Peggy Orenstein's excellent Cinderella Ate My Daughter that circles around to the same issues (the link will take you to Peggy's website, which has a link to a PDF of the article). And this morning, I pulled out my CSA's weekly newsletter and our friendly farmer Vern touched on the same thing. I'd love to link to it, but this week's edition is not yet available online.

It makes me wonder if our modern brand of capitalism can co-exist with a true community spirit. More and more, it seems like we have to pick between doing what's best for the community (both local and global) or don't what's in our own selfish interests. That's not to say capitalism and modesty cannot co-exist - merely that it's not easy, especially in a hyper-competitive market that richly rewards winners and gives little or nothing to the losers.

Something does need to change. I just don't know what.

Yeah, That's a Little More Than Inflation ...

2011-03-09T18:58:00.000-08:00

A drug was $20. Now it's $1500.

Thanks, FDA, for giving us all a great reminder of how completely worthless you are.

P.S.: When a price increase is steeper than what one would expect from a Mexican drug cartel and makes me feel bad for health insurance companies, something's not right.

Leave Big Bird Alone and No One Gets Hurt

2011-02-19T10:14:00.000-08:00

I've been fixated on the news for the past few days. Since I have a feeling I currently come across as angry enough to sound not quite sane, I've been trying to stay quiet until I can once again arrange my thoughts and be somewhat civil. Barring that, I'm going to be protesting in the streets before the end of the month. Take your pick.

But funding for NASCAR sponsorship? Are you kidding me? This has to be a joke, right? Sesame Street - which has entertained generations of youngsters, this blogger included - might get cuts to funding (to say nothing of Planned Parenthood, education, you name it) but, hey, let's make sure we can still put a decal on a car that goes in circles? I mean, I guess it makes sense - when you have a poorly-educated population that has been trained to be lemmings, what better use for them than cannon foddor?

You know, on second thought, I think the blogging hiatus needs to continue.

Retail Loophole (for now)

2011-02-10T12:43:00.000-08:00

Two things:

I never considered saying no when a cashier asks for my zip code.
I always just assumed stores asked so they could figure out where customers lived to help figure out where to expand.

After reading this article, however, I am disregarding the above for a simpler opinion:

I am naive. And I am never again giving a cashier my zip code.

Clarifying

2011-01-28T13:13:00.000-08:00

I had a different post planned for today, but I decided to hold off on it.

I want to clarify my last post as I think it came across poorly and somewhat judgmental, which was not my intention. The truth is, part of my interest in Cinderella Ate My Daughter is that, at 29, I feel like society is putting the same princess-and-pink rubric onto my life as it is with six-year-old girls, and it drives me nuts. I'm frustrated by what feels like a backwards slide into stereotypical girl-and-boy boxes while we continue to up the ante on sexualizing women and requiring them to live up to prepubescent body ideals.

Bottom line? I'm still having trouble explaining where I stand on the subject, because it's complicated. So let me try to expand on the basis of my beliefs: to me, femininity is much more than fairy tales and lipstick, even if those things are part of what many of us (me included) use to define who we are as women. There's nothing wrong with loving pink or daydreaming of bridal gowns - I just wish we'd stop using such meaningless things to define who is and is not an 'acceptable' American woman. And I really wish concerns such as those expressed in this blog post could be voiced without anyone labeling the speaker a harpy feminist prude.

I hope this softens what was a rather blunt post. And, if not, please remember that I'm really not a passive aggressive shrew. I simply tend to put my foot in my mouth and then have a hard time extracting it.

Cinderella is a Cannibal

2011-01-25T10:12:00.000-08:00

In an 1898 survey, less than 25% of girls said dolls were their favorite toy. “President Theodore Roosevelt… obsessed with declining birth rates among white, Anglo-Saxon women, began waging a campaign against ‘race-suicide.’ When women ‘feared motherhood,” he warned, our nation trembled on the ‘brink of doom.’ Baby dolls were seen as a way to revive the flagging maternal instinct of girls, to remind them of their patriotic duty to conceive; within a few years, dolls were ubiquitous, synonymous with girlhood itself. Miniature brooms, dustpans, and stoves tutored these same young ladies in the skills of homemaking…”

The above is taken from a blog post summarizing some of the historical points made in Cinderella Ate My Daughter, a book that comes out today. I cannot wait to read this book. In the meantime, I've been cruising the web looking for articles about this book (let me also recommend the NY Times review). Said search introduced me to a book entitled Pink Brain, Blue Brain, which I may have to read while waiting for Cinderella to become available at the library. And for those obsessed like me, Newsweek has an article from 2009 about that book.

This is where I add my own two cents: I like pink, but I've never been gaga crazy over the color (I even remember a brief period during my childhood where I refused to wear dresses and the color pink - and this is where I'd like to thank my parents for just going with it, rather than assuming there was something wrong with me). And, yes, I was sort of shocked when I went to college and found classmates who subscribed to wedding magazines, because, hey, I was in college. Weddings and all the requisite planning were not even sort of on my radar. These articles make me wonder if maybe all of this was not merely my personality but instead has something to do with the fact that my nursery was gender neutral with a rainbow theme (which had the added bonus of being completely reusable when my brother came along, without being at all controversial) and my Mom purchased and encouraged all sorts of gender neutral toys growing up. Which is not to say I didn't have the mini-kitchen - I did - but there are videos that indicate I found it a fantastic dual-performance space: make fake food and perform toddler stand-up comedy.

So thanks, Mom, for inadvertently making your little girl not at all ubergirly but a total bookworm. I cannot wait to read these books.

Best of 2010

2011-01-20T10:19:00.000-08:00

And here we are. The last post (I hope) about what I read in 2010. For this post, all of the links will take you to my reviews of these books.

Let me start with some random statistics:

I read a total of 120 books this year. I did a rough count, and the list breaks down to 56 non-fiction, 45 fiction, and 19 children’s / YA. Most were published in the last twenty years (with an emphasis on the past two) and only about six were published more than fifty years ago. The non-fiction category is the most expansive, ranging from the lightweight (see I Know I Am, But What Are You?) to the heavy duty (see Race Beat). I read more in the latter half of the year (69), although I read most of the children’s books in the first half of the year and many more novels in the second half of the year. Other than wishing I had read a few more that fall into the “classics” category, I’m pretty happy with the diversity of my reading selection for 2010. It’s a nice mix of intellectual and fun, long and short.

And here we are: the best of the year. I have to say, given the total number (which, I will fully admit, is one of those records that I'm fine with being my lifetime best), this list took more time to assemble than I expected (but I enjoyed it - it's fun thinking about good books). I also considered highlighting the worst and biggest disappointments, but at least with the former, I think it's pretty easy to figure out. Besides, why give attention to the bad and be negative when I read so many good books this year?

The Best of 2010

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare? by James Shapiro
Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okent
Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation by Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff
The Radicalism of the American Revolution by Gordon S. Wood

After I compiled this list, I started to write an explanation for why each book appealed to me, but I realized they hit many of the same notes: they challenged me, taught me, educated me, expanded my view of the world, and generally left me feeling a little smarter. And, without exception, these seven stayed with me long after I read the final page. Honestly, 2010 inadvertently ended up being a banner year in nonfiction reading for me. I read some good fiction, but nothing that came close to the excellence these seven books reached. With the exception of Born to Run, none of them are what I would classify as easy reads, but they were all more than worth the time and effort.

2010's Best Guilty Pleasures

The Case of the Missing Servant (Vish Puri No. 1) by Tarquin Hall
The Edge of Ruin by Irene Fleming
The Flavia de Luce series (particularly No. 2, although I think No. 1 should be read first) by Alan Bradley

2010 was also the year I remembered that I enjoy mysteries … so long as they tend more towards quirky, light-hearted fun rather than bloody violence.

2010's Honorable Mentions

The Best Game Ever: Giants vs. Colts, 1958, and the Birth of the Modern NFL by Mark Bowden: My new favorite sports book.
I See Rude People: One Woman's Battle to Beat Some Manners Into Impolite Society by Amy Alkon: A decent book, but in terms of how much I’ve referenced it in random conversations over the past year, it outpaces everything else.
On Rumors: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, What Can Be Done by Cass Sunstein: Best ratio of length to influence.
The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas G. Carr: Whenever I reflect on this book, I tend to avoid mindless Internet surfing for a few days.
Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America by Nathaniel Frank: Not a great book, but as far as informing me on a current event and making me really well informed on that event, this one succeeded.
Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War by Andrew J. Bacevich: A solid, timely analysis of the politics of foreign policy and national security.
Best Children's and YA: A Drowned Maiden’s Hair: A Melodrama by Laura Amy Schlitz and Prince Edward: A Novel by Dennis McFarland

And 120 books later, I have to say … I think I might have read myself out. I need a break from books.

Some Thoughts On Where I've Been (in the Literary World)

2011-01-19T16:32:00.000-08:00

What follows are some stray odds and ends of thoughts that intrigued me enough to jot down over the course of 2010. They are by no means complete or perfectly polished, and I'll fully admit this is one of those intellectual exercises that is rather me oriented. That said, for those who do take the time to skim this, I hope they incite some wanderings of the mind:

In Elizabethan England, playwrights were banned from directly parodying or copying current events on stage – hence the massive amount of scholarship related to comparing Shakespeare’s plays to what actually occurred around the time he wrote them. While Mr. Shakespeare often indirectly references real events, I think being forced to work within those limitations helped give his work a timeless quality. While I don’t advocate resurrecting such a ban, I can’t help but think we’ve gone too far in the other direction to pop culture overkill. I love timely creative works, but I’d like to read more books that elicit that same timeless quality and do not feel outdated a year or two after publication.
Writing style sets the tone of book similar to how music set the tones in movies. I remain surprised at how many books have a disconnect between tone and story. It sometimes reminds me of having the Black Eyed Peas do the score for a Pride and Prejudice movie. It just doesn’t work. [ETA: In reviewing my notes, I’ve noticed I tend to use Pride and Prejudice as my go-to classics reference, and while I like Austen, I’m not quite sure why I’ve settled on this particular book as my “surely everyone’s read this” classic.]
Wow is length important for crafting a good book: too short makes a book feel more like a summary and makes it difficult to really get into a character's mind, and too long wastes a reader's time and is boring. I’m increasingly appreciating how difficult it is for writers to find that magical length for each story.
Time and surroundings - so many books create an insular world around the characters and events, with the real world only intruding as convenient for the plot. On a related note, I’m sick of plots that are so pushed together in regards to time that they're difficult to believe. I have increasing respect for authors who create stories that are surrounded by the world and constrained by its realities - no matter what fantastical things happen within the story.
I have a love / hate relationship with recommendations. On the one hand, it’s nice to know someone liked a book (admittedly, some of the worst books I’ve read were random selections). At the same time, it also creates expectations of a book that are sometimes hard to meet. All the same, there’s nothing I love better than when a book lives up to its reputation – I like being told a book will blow me away, and for the book to be good enough to blow me away even with that expectation.
Stop giving awards for research. I’ve now read multiple novels that won major awards yet were lacking in the ways I judge creative works: plot, character, style. Good research is important, but it alone does not make for a good read. It cannot compensate for a weak plot or cardboard characters, and I wish the bodies that select awards would spend more time looking at the complete product and not just at how many libraries the author visited. While research can be indicative of a good work and a thorough author, it is not required for the creation of a good story.
This is in no way scientific or accurate, but I’m mentioning it just the same. Over a brief period, I read four murder mysteries where the primary victims were evenly divided between male and female. The men were killed in “ordinary” ways (gunshot, poisoning, etc.), but the women’s murders were ritualized fetishes almost to the point of being a perverse art form. All of the authors were women, and it was both fascinating and disturbing to see how the gender of the victim influenced both the murder and the book itself. I feel like there are broader societal implications at work here (and I should also mention all of the murderers were the same sex), and it makes me want to continue reading the genre just to see if this was a simple aberration or part of a larger pattern. [ETA: Nope, didn’t read anything in 2010 to dissuade this theory.]
What is it about WWII that fascinates us so? Is it because we generally agree on its horrors, making it an easy way to evoke an emotional response? Or is it because we consider events settled and in the past, making us able to fret about the tragedy without having to do anything? I’m continually amazed at how we return to those years again and again, always eager to find more ways to mine the emotional torment of that time period and its people. I’ve read some truly outstanding books on this subject, but I do wonder if, at some point, we need to find another cultural touchstone (which is not to say we should forget WWII – merely to stop mining it for fictional stories). I found myself reflecting on that this year when I encountered the newest sub-genre: parallel stories that try to tie our modern world to the tragedies from decades earlier. Do I think it’s possible for someone to write a jaw-dropping book using this technique? Absolutely. But so far, all of the books I’ve encountered seem almost exploitative of the horrors so many people faced. And worst of all, the modern protagonists come across shallow and self absorbed, a sort of unintentional reminder of how much the generations following the so-called greatest generation have not measured up. And I find myself dwelling on the thought that it’s easy for writers to tap into that shared emotional pool and craft a story without having to put much effort into creating an emotional resonance. In immersing ourselves within settled events, we can care and express outrage without having to wonder at our indifference. So perhaps there is still a book or two more on WWII: about how we – those of us born after these events, who see them as a horrible true story without any first-hand knowledge – exploit the memories and events for our own purposes. [Sidenote: I wrote this prior to reading Hitler’s Holy Relics, which was a fresh and interesting take on WWII. But it wasn’t particularly exploitative and did not dissuade me of my desire for fiction of all stripes to take a break from WWII.]
Men writing female protagonists and vice versa. I have to admit, I rarely pay much attention to the writer’s gender versus the main character’s gender. All I care about is whether the character is well written. Then I read two historical murder mysteries where the main character and author were different genders with two very different results. Flavia de Luce is an eleven-year-old girl written by a married man in his sixties and yet never does she not seem like an eleven-year-old girl. I’d even go so far as to say that Mr. Bradley does a better job in getting into an eleven-year-old girl’s head than most female authors. Without knowing anything about the author, I would have assumed Flavia’s creator was a woman, given how well the author understands the character. On the other hand, Stefanie Pintoff’s Simon Ziele reads like a woman masquerading as a man. Putting on a suit does not make someone a man, but that almost seems like what Ms. Pintoff tries to do with Detective Ziele – she tells readers he is a man, but that’s about it (Ms. Pintoff spent a considerable amount of time researching the setting and time period, making it difficult for me, as a reader, to understand why she failed to delve into subjects that would have allowed her to understand her main character). His logic and actions reminded me of a woman. There were a couple of points in the book (it’s written in first person) where I forgot the narrator was supposed to be a man and was jarred by comments that reminded me that, no, wait, he’s not a she. Neither book is perfect and they are both middle-of-the-road murder mysteries, but what sets Mr. Bradley’s series above Ms. Pintoff’s is the believability of the main character: an engaging main character – one who seems true to the facts given about his or her life – can make or break a story.
Nothing frustrates me more than reading a good novel that should have been great. In looking back over the year, I can point out the books that broke my heart because they were so close to being jaw-droppingly amazing – mostly because I tend to be more negative in those reviews despite liking the book. I have no doubt some of my quibbles are personal preference, but, all the same, I wish those so-close-to-greatness books had blown my socks off. As a bibliophile, there’s nothing worse than seeing the promise of a book, only to find the execution not quite delivering.
I’d like to suggest a moratorium on opening any book on race, politics, et al. with the mention of Barack Obama’s election. Yes, it was historic. Yes, it was neat. But it’s not like he was from some inner-city hovel and raised by a single, illiterate mother and his election marked the end of all racial problems in America and the world. It was a big deal, but I’m sick of books published after November 2008 mentioning Obama’s election as if it somehow changed everything. At the end of the day, he’s another Ivy League alumnus in the White House. Even if McCain had been elected, the problems these books analyze and discuss would still exist (and would probably be more or less the same). Yes, authors, we readers get it. You read the newspaper. Now please stop mentioning Obama’s election unless it directly relates to your work.
In my years as a library patron, I’ve checked out hundreds, if not thousands, of books. Being an advocate of knowledge and freedom of speech (in other words: if I were a cat, curiosity would have killed me a long time ago), it very rarely bugs me about what people think about my literary choices (see: reading the entire Princess Diary series in a month, and once checking out, at the same time, a book about sex cults and a couple of children’s books – in retrospect, I recommend doing neither of these things but, hey, you can’t know until you try). Yes, my book choices mark me as a liberal white chick in touch with both her inner nerd and inner child, but, hey, I know who I am. This year, however, I learned what I will not do: silly as it is, I cannot check out a book about white supremacists from a library that serves a racially diverse community when every single clerk working the circulation desk is a minority. No, the book was not pro-white separatist, but I found out that day that I do sort of care what people think about the books I read. I will check out books about terrorists, books about sex cults, even bad novels I’m embarrassed to admit I read, but I tear up in relief and say a quick prayer to the big guy upstairs when I realize the self check-out machine is working and I can spare myself the awkwardness of checking out a book about racists in front of a bunch of people the racists hate. It’s not logical, especially because I believe it’s important to understand hatred and why people hate to truly solve racism in America, but I can’t change the fact I couldn’t get up the courage to hand a book covered in swastikas to a black man on a Saturday afternoon.
I was discussing books with a friend late in 2010, and there was a lull in the conversation, which he filled with a comment on my recent reads: “You do realize the government probably flagged your library account a while ago, right?” No, I hadn’t, but now that the thought has been planted in my head, I will admit it does make me want to be more scandalous in my selections.
I’m starting to realize I have five categories of books: (1) good books that make me want to hold off starting the next one so I can savor what I just finished; (2) good books that remind me what I love about reading and make me want to keep reading until my eyes cross; (3) bad books that make me desire a break from reading (these may be the worst sort of books); (4) bad books that make me want to read another book ASAP as a palate cleanser; and (5) books that leave me indifferent to whether I read or not. I hate Category 3 and find Category 1 is rare, but Category 2 is (thankfully) a popular category for me, and I love it.
A random joke from How I Met Your Mother when discussing a library in the Dakotas: They have two sections: Fishin’ and Non-Fishin’. I’ve heard that joke four or fives times, and it still makes me chuckle. And it sort of makes me want to – just once – put a sign over my library’s signs for Fiction and Non-Fiction.
One thing I’m still pondering (and will likely continue to ponder) is something that’s been flitting around the back of my brain for most of the year and was driven home when I picked my favorites of the year. I think it’s somewhat easy to write a decent novel, difficult to write great non-fiction, and nearly impossible to write a knock-your-socks-off novel.

Coming up: The final chapter of 2010 ... my best of the year list ...

Shorting College

2011-01-18T16:09:00.000-08:00

"Not much is asked of students, either. Half did not take a single course requiring 20 pages of writing during their prior semester, and one-third did not take a single course requiring even 40 pages of reading per week."

I wish I could say this surprised me. After attending law school with people who fall into these categories, though, it's par for the course.

And fine. I'm shallow enough to sort of enjoy feeling slightly superior because my college experience was the exact opposite: with the exception of art classes (which had their own ridiculous set of expectations), I rarely had a class that did not double the writing requirement and blow through forty pages in a week (some even went double that for weekly assignments). Now, I didn't always do the reading, and I'd argue that there is a thing as too much reading (which, honestly, was usually why I would fall short of the assignment). Which brings me to my next point: quantity and quality are not the same. Sure, my alma required lots of writing, but, in most classes, the requirements for quality of writing were laughably low.

Bottom line? Interesting study, but I think that, as it is worded in the news releases, crucial questions are missing.

The Importance of Ignoring

2011-01-12T11:13:00.000-08:00

I am a woman of simple comforts. A gas stove. Good water pressure when I take a shower (and, by extension, a decent shower head - five miniscule streams of water does not a decent shower make). A steady supply of tea (preferably of the fair trade variety so I can sip my tea and not worry that some poor child is suffering in slavery-like conditions because of my camellia sinensis addiction). My neighbors not babysitting their ill-behaved, vampiric grandchildren on weekends I have to be up early.

You get the idea: my creature comforts are not especially complex. But I'm adding one to the list: underwear I can ignore.

I don't give much thought to underwear. Frankly, I think that's how it should be: you put it on and promptly forget about it.

I've been a long-time customer of Victoria's Secret, mostly because I've realized over the years that paying a little more for underwear is worth it. Sure, Hanes is cheap, but regardless of what their ads say, Hanes has, in my experience, a tendency to want to be a thong.

So I purchase Victoria's Secret because I can put it on and forget about it.

I got some new Victoria's Secret underwear for Christmas. It says it's the exact same stuff I've been buying for years. Which is sort of true, except Victoria's Secret has now joined the "Who Wants to be a Thong the fastest" contest. And they're winning - I mean, Victoria's Secret's new stuff is putting Hanes to absolute shame. And it's not a subtle sort of discomfort either - it's a Kardassian sort of call for attention discomfort. (Wow, underwear and Kardassians in the same blog post - I've really gone downhill.)

I spent some time this morning reading about this phenomenon. I am apparently not alone, although it sounds like Victoria's Secret's approach to this is "you bought it, now live with it" customer service. For experts on women's lingerie, they've apparently forgotten one very important thing: There are some things in life you don't mess with, and that includes a woman's right to ignore her underwear.

Last Call

2011-01-10T11:58:00.000-08:00

Part 41 of Books I Read in 2010

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to GoodReads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

[Also, I didn't plan for this to be the last book I read of the year, but it came off the hold list in the middle of December and then it kind of became "how can I not end the year with this book?"]

Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent – Talk about ending the year on a high note. This is history the way I enjoy it: dense but readable and combining details of the period’s politics, law, culture, and people. It’s not the book about prohibition I expected – Mr. Okrent lightly touches on commonly told stories such as Capone and moonshine – but it was also much better than I expected. It’s well researched, well written, and tells an engaging story. Mr. Okrent manages to work in shades of grey, adeptly capturing the good, the bad, and the in between to give the era a fullness that’s often missing in history books. I honestly can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t enjoy reading this book. Highly, highly recommended.

Coming up: Some end of the year thoughts ...

Paul Kept Hopin'

2011-01-06T16:14:00.000-08:00

Part 40 of Books I Read in 2010

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to GoodReads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Wishin’ and Hopin’: A Christmas Story by Wally Lamb – Who knew Mr. Lamb could do fun, mindless storytelling without dragging his readers through an emotional wringer? This is the story of Felix Funicello (cousin of Annette!) and the fall of his fifth grade year, which culminates in a school Christmas pageant. This is a children’s story for adults, full of subtle humor and nostalgia. It’s a tribute to 1960s Americana, and while it’s not a classic Christmas story, it’s an entertaining holiday diversion. Recommended.

The Return of Depression Economics by Paul Krugman – Well, my search for a decent book about the economics of recessions published before 2008 continues. This isn’t a bad book, but it was easy to put down and ignore and left me wanting (although I’m not entirely sure of the audience – parts were geared to the economic training wheels crowd while other sections seemed intended for a more informed audience). It is focused on a specific period of time (the late 1990s) but didn’t, to me, have enough to teach more timeless lessons. And fine, I’ll admit it. If I had to read one more reference about Paul Krugman being right and every other economist being wrong, I was going to throw the book out the window (not really, since I borrowed it from the library, but it was a close thing). More than one or two references to being right comes across as arrogant, and frankly, makes me always question why an author is so insecure that such reminders are necessary. Not recommended.

A Secret Kept by Tatiana de Rosnay – I’ve realized that Ms. de Rosnay’s books are a bit like cheap bottle of wines – when you’re immersed in them, they’re hard to put down. Then you finish them, have some time to think things over, and realize they really weren’t that great and it was more that you were caught up in the moment. A Secret Kept shares quite a few similarities to Sarah’s Key, although I did find this novel’s plot the stronger of the two. Following a car accident that leaves his sister seriously injured, a man spirals into a midlife crisis (let me recommend reading as little about the plot as possible if you do plan to read it: too many summaries give away some of the important details). Similar to Sarah’s Key, there are some beautiful passages and some wonderful scenes that capture the complexities of life and how decisions inform life. Unfortunately, also similar to Sarah’s Key, I found many of the characters unlikable – they come across as shallow, self-centered whiners (although not having to compare these characters to a child uprooted by the Holocaust made it slightly easier to tolerate them as compared to the protagonist in Sarah’s Key), and, once again, the ending left me wanting. I’m not sure if I’ll pick up another novel by Ms. de Rosnay – there’s much to like about her, but her books tend to leave me frustrated and wanting more. As I said in my review of Sarah’s Key, there’s a beautiful, complicated story lurking within these pages, but the book as is fails to live up to its potential. Quasi recommended.

Coming up: Last Call ...

A Biography of American Memory

2011-01-03T10:13:00.000-08:00

Part 39 of Books I Read in 2010

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to GoodReads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote [Modern Library 1996 ed.] – This collection of Capote’s holiday short stories – A Christmas Memory, One Christmas, and The Thanksgiving Visitor – is straight out of Norman Rockwell Americana. They’re a fun holiday treat and exactly the sort of easy, charming reading material I favor during the holidays. Recommended.

American Swastika: Inside the White Power Movement’s Hidden Spaces of Hate by Pete Simi and Robert Futrell – I realized after reading Hitler’s Holy Relics that despite a major in politics and a law degree – both of which required classes on history, political and legal theory, and race relations – I know nothing about white power other than a few general facts and that it’s bad. I decided this ignorance represents a shortcoming in my education so I’m now trying to remedy that, although reading about the white power movement is a disturbing undertaking. I started with this book (mostly because it was recently published and is short). For a beginner, it’s a good place to start. It’s a peek into a very dark part of America, and I’d recommend not reading it for long stretches or shortly before going to bed. The authors spent a lot of time researching and forming connections with the men and women inside the white power movement, but the book does not live up to the amount of effort put into the research. Much as I did in this review, the authors are quick to always point out that the people they are studying are bad and evil – not something I want to dispute, but it bugged me because I felt like it interfered with their analysis. Yes, white power beliefs are disturbing, but why? What struck me most is how similar the white power movement is to any other community within American life – like Christianity, they use music as a recruiting tool. Like gaming fans, they use the Internet as a place to congregate and connect. Noticing these similarities was, for me, the most chilling part of the book – yet the authors made it sound like what the white power movement is doing is somehow unique. For a book that draws heavily from sociology, it bugged me that the authors seemed so cut off from mainstream American culture. It’s a good starting point and it does offer good first-hand accounts, but it’s otherwise too thin on deep analysis to be of much use. Recommended.

Anything Goes: A Biography of the Roaring Twenties by Lucy Moore – A random survey of the 1920s, this book suffers from the author’s opinions overshadowing the narrative and an obsession with relating the 1920s to modern times (yes, there are some parallels; no, they are not identical). Some interesting information, but it mostly made me want to read a book about the 1920s that didn’t seem like an amateur effort. Not recommended.

Coming up: Paul Kept Hopin' ...

The Bibliophile Resolves

2011-01-02T22:55:00.000-08:00

I set resolutions for reading every year (along with other goals on any number of subjects - I absolutely love the concept of setting goals for the year, and it's my favorite sort of to-do list). In the middle of 2010, I decided to ignore my original literary goals and instead focused on finishing 104 books within the calendar year (which I did as of October 31).

Anyway, the LA Times has a selection of resolutions from various literary-minded individuals. Some are funny, some sound like me, and some remind me why I sometimes prefer books to the people who love them.

As for my goals for literature in 2011, well, I plan to start by wrapping up my 2010 year in books. My primary goal for the year is finishing three seminal works I've been reading and/or guiltily ignoring on and off for several years:

Machiavelli's The Prince. That's right. I'm a politics major and lawyer who, despite having had the book assigned more times than I can remember during my years of formal education, has not yet read the entire treatise. No, it's not something I'm proud of - actually, I sort of am. One of my professors once complimented me on my understanding of the book, and I had skimmed Cliff Notes a half hour before class. But I really do need to read it, because, yes, I do feel sort of guilty for having not read it.
The Federalist Papers. I bought a copy on a lark for $5 about six years ago. Whenever I look for a book on my bookshelves, my nice hardcover edition stares back at me, silently judging me and my failed bet with an ex-boyfriend to read the entire thing before starting law school.
Shakespeare's Complete Works. To be fair, I'm fine with not finishing this goal within the calendar year so long as I make some progress towards being done. And yes, I do sort of look forward to the day when I can say I've read both the Bible and Shakespeare cover to cover, but I'm also really enjoying the process of reading Shakespeare's plays, sonnets and poems in depth for the first time.

There are some other goals, but I generally keep my resolutions private (except for when I know the risk of public failure will force me to complete something I'll otherwise let slide - see above).

And, on that note, happy new year!

Holy Fated Hair

2010-12-30T09:41:00.000-08:00

Part 38 of Books I Read in 2010

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to GoodReads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Hitler’s Holy Relics: A True Story of Nazi Plunder and the Race to Recover the Crown Jewels of the Holy Roman Empire by Stanley Kirkpatrick – Here’s some considerable background before I even get to the review: Walter Horn was born and raised in Germany by Lutheran parents and studied art history (with an emphasis in pan-Germanic art) before fleeing to the United States to escape Nazism (something many of his family members would embrace). He landed a teaching job in art history at the University of California, Berkeley before enlisting in the U.S. military. In the immediate aftermath of the World War II, when Europe is in near-chaos, Horn’s fluency in German and academic specialty made him the perfect man to join a program created by the U.S. military to protect Europe’s cultural heritage. His first assignment, detailed in this book, is a race to recover the missing pieces of the crowned jewels of the Holy Roman Empire, believed by some to be coveted by fugitive Nazis in order to create a Fourth Reich. That’s a lot of detail for a short review, but those unique details make this nonfiction story and give it a wonderful depth. The adventure to recover the crown jewels would have been a good story on its own, but it wouldn’t have been as memorable or thought provoking. For all I’ve read about World War II, this is the first time I’ve come across such a detailed account of the chaos and compromises of post-war Germany and the religious and ideological foundations of Nazism. If possible, the latter makes Hitler and his minions even more frightening: There’s something about understanding the framework of how people justify hatred and violence that makes evil much more chilling than a black-and-white caricature. My one complaint is that for a book with such a phenomenal story, it’s somewhat dull and occasionally relies on explanatory tangents that break up the flow. However, I credit the somewhat monotonous tone of the book with a desire to stay close to the facts and avoid unnecessary embellishment, so I’m hesitant to be too critical of that shortcoming. Recommended.

Fated by S.G. Browne – Fate – preferred moniker, Fabio – is an immortal in charge of the life paths for 83 percent of humans. Then he meets a mortal who happens to be on the path of Destiny and, despite it being against the rules, falls in love. This book is another entry into the currently popular trend of inserting gods and myths into modern times. This book is a wonderfully weird combination of humor and intellectual commentary on the nature of human existence – with an engaging plot to boot. I had trouble putting it down, because it was just such a fun, smart story. But I hated the ending (quasi-spoilers from here on out). It seemed like the author was building up to Point A but instead took a last-minute hard left to end up at Point B, which, while somewhat foreshadowed, mostly undermined all of the build up (and was, in my humble opinion, uncomfortably gross). Let me put it this way: if this book were a retelling of the tortoise and the hare, during the final sprint to the finish line, the hare would find a pair of rocket boots and win, so that the moral turns into dumb luck trumping hard work. It’s not that said moral does not have some truth to it – rather, it goes against the whole purpose of the story until that point. Up until the ending, this was one of my favorite books of the year. Now I’m pretty confident saying I wouldn’t recommend it.

A Drowned Maiden’s Hair: A Melodrama by Laura Amy Schlitz – This children’s book about eleven-year-old Maud’s adoption by three spinsters in 1909 is everything I remember liking about books as a girl. And as an adult, the plot, combined with the book’s tension between Maud’s need to be loved, her desire to be a normal child, and her responsibilities with her new family, makes it one of the more endearing children’s books I’ve read this year. Recommended (with the suggestion that knowing as little about the book as possible creates a wonderful tension the first one hundred pages – something most summaries of the book give away).

Coming up: A Biography of American Memory ...

Goodbye, House and Home

2010-12-27T13:54:00.000-08:00

Part 37 of Books I Read in 2010

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to GoodReads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Goodbye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton – Short on depth and long on heart, this slim tome about a 1930s English schoolmaster at the end of his long life reminded me a great deal of a golden retriever puppy. It’s charming and hard to dislike, though those of a more cynical bent will likely disdain it as being maudlin and syrupy sweet. Me? I adored it and found myself in a little bit of awe that Mr. Hilton managed to do so much with so few words. Sometimes, it’s nice to read something simple and insightful that doesn’t feel the need to be ironic or epic or shocking. As I can see why many consider this required reading, recommended.

Ape House by Sara Gruen – How in the world was this written by the same author who gave the world Water for Elephants? Ms. Gruen switched publishing houses between books, and it makes me wonder if her previous editor deserves most of the credit for the bestselling novel. This book is supposed to be about bonobos taken from a research center and turned into the stars of a reality show. And that plot is there, in the background, hidden by boring, poorly mapped plot lines that go nowhere fast (that many of the summaries for this book begin with a long, drawn-out narrative about Ms. Gruen’s research into primate research rather than the novel itself should have clued me into the problems of this book). In lieu of character development, the book features lots and lots of melodramatic dysfunctional backgrounds, which are supported by absurd situations, and characters who should probably be under psychiatric care, given their mood swings and reactions. Usually, I can find the hint of a decent plot in a mediocre book, but even that’s missing here. To top it off, Ms. Gruen paints an unflattering and unrealistic portrayal of Los Angeles. Look, lady, I know my city has issues, but don’t mock it until you know it (or at least research it – similar to bonobos, Angelenos can be studied). Good if studying what a published novel should not be, otherwise not recommended.

At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson – I’m not quite sure how 450 pages equates to short, but I suppose that’s part of Bryson’s charm. Bryson’s dry humor and smart commentary are on display here, but they can’t quite save the book. Bryson uses his home (a former rectory built in 1851) as the basis for exploring how various items in modern households came to be. It’s a fun idea, but the execution reminded me of nothing so much as Trivial Pursuit in a quasi-narrative form. There’s no particular rhyme or reason to what was featured, and I’m still not entirely sure how some of the subjects tied into some of the chapter titles (the chapters were named after rooms in Bryon’s home: Cellar, Dressing Room, etc.). While it was well researched and full of interesting facts and historical tidbits, for me, it was information overload. If the book were either columns – and therefore easier to pick up at random – or a good deal shorter, this book would qualify as a decent, semi-educational diversion. But 450 pages stuffed with a never-ending stream of tangentially-related facts with little analysis to help cushion all those dates, people, and places is simply overwhelming. Quasi-recommended.

Coming up: Holy Fated Hair ...

Goodbye, Distractions

2010-12-26T21:51:00.000-08:00

Software that can block Internet access and/or time-wasting websites (such as this blog)?

Santa, I think I have a late addition to my Christmas list ...

Lucky, Ella, and Rebecca

2010-12-23T13:57:00.000-08:00

Part 36 of Books I Read in 2010

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to GoodReads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron – In Hard Pan, CA (Pop. 43), ten-year-old Lucky lives with her guardian, whom Lucky is convinced is going to move back to France and leave Lucky at the mercy of child services. This book is the sort of award winner that makes me cynical about awards: a book about Important Things with the requisite quirky characters and some decent sections that’s not much in the way of story or believability. Part of me wonders if all the attention this book received centers on one thing: the word scrotum appears on the first page of the book, which has resulted in some libraries and schools banning the book (for what it’s worth, the word is irrelevant to the story itself, and I’m not convinced its inclusion was necessary). I’m not sure why else this otherwise forgettable book received so much attention. Not recommended.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine – Definitely more worthy of the Newbury than The Higher Power of Lucky, this is a magical retelling of Cinderella with some very creative twists. I didn’t love that Ella was fifteen / sixteen and talking marriage (yes, I know that is historically accurate, but the setting is a fake kingdom. Would eighteen really be such a horrible minimum for marriage in kid’s books?), but I did like the message of the book (even if it was hit-you-over-the-head ‘90s girl power). Overall, it’s one of the better retellings of a fairy tale I’ve read, and I can see why it’s become a sort of modern classic for young girls. Quasi-recommended.

Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier – I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve checked this book out from the library and not read it. But this time, this time I was determined to not only start reading it but also finish it. I did finally start it, only to almost put it down a handful of times in the first 75 pages because of the slow pace. But I stuck with it, and I am happy I did (and even happier that the pace picks up). This 1930s Gothic novel about a second wife living in the shadow of the first wife deserves its fame: it’s a haunting story, full of the normal Gothic set pieces, but wow does Ms. DuMaurier know how to tell a story. I normally range from indifferent to hostile regarding first-person narration and consider it overused (especially in modern novels), but this book beautifully showcases the power of using first person. The narrator’s voice shifts and changes as the story unfolds, giving the narrator a depth most first-person characters lack. I went from thinking the narrator was too dumb to live to … well, if I said that, I’d ruin it. Recommended.

Coming up: Goobye, House and Home ...

I'll Be Back Again Someday ...

2010-12-21T16:03:00.000-08:00

During law school, one of the small rays of sunshine in my life every December (in law school, December translates as "studying in a law library until onset of insanity with brief periods of incarceration in classrooms to see how much one can write in a four-hour period") were the Elysian Park snowmen. They were, for three years, one of my favorite Christmas decorations in all of Southern California. I drove by them to and from school pretty much everyday until around five days before Christmas, and even at my most exhausted, they never failed to make me smile and perk up a little bit. During one particularly stressful day my third year, even though I had planned to stay home to write a paper, I ended up taking an hour off and driving to Elysian Park to see them in the middle of the day.

Therefore, it's not surprising I was way bummed to not see the snowmen in their normal places when I drove through the park earlier this month. Then I found out: budget cuts had killed the snowmen. But in a move that makes me all warm and fuzzy, a group of volunteers pitched in to put the snowmen back in their rightful places. Granted, the downpour over the past week has given the snowmen the appearance of a Picasso painting, but, hey, even real snowmen would be in bad shape following the past week's weather.)

Squirrel Haunts Internet

2010-12-20T23:42:00.000-08:00

Part 35 of Books I Read in 2010

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to GoodReads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary by David Sedaris – Sedaris takes on the animal kingdom in a series of modern-day fables. Some are good, some are a bit too far out there for my taste, and only one was truly memorable. I expected Sedaris’ normally dark, dry humor, but something about this book went beyond uncomfortable. Part of what I’ve always liked about Sedaris’ work is how smart it is: the stories can be weird and disturbing, but he usually keeps a thread of sanity and intelligence, which is what makes him so good at satire. That thread is missing in many of these short stories. Instead they reminded me of illustrations of Sesame Street characters as drugged-out street thugs – in other words, taking something cute and fluffy and making it pessimistic and bitter just for the hell of it. I like Sedaris, but I don’t think this is one of his best works. Quasi-recommended (and if you’ve never read Sedaris, do not start here).

Haunt Me Still by Jennifer Lee Carrell – Lots of interesting bits and pieces about Shakespearean and Jacobean history and a much more promising start than the first book. Carrell takes the infamous Scottish play and uses every possible superstition and tall tale about the play to weave a murder mystery in the wilds of Scotland. It’s a fantastic premise, but the book isn’t even a little scary (how is that possible?) and the resolution requires absurd leaps of logic. I so want to like Carrell’s books, and it bums me out to give this one a not recommended.

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas G. Carr – Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating. While the book’s focus is on the relationship between the rise of the Internet and changes to the human brain, the book includes history detailing how other inventions affected the human brain. The end result puts the Internet (and the computer age) within the context of human history and gives needed depth to a book that is otherwise heavy on (neuro) science. Mr. Carr’s arguments are persuasive, mostly because of his reliance on a variety of sources from several disciplines. I’ve read a few reviews that refer to the book as pessimistic, but I think a better description might be cautionary. This book deftly underlines the good and bad of technology and the oft-dismissed truth that progress – even good progress – comes at a cost. This book has left me contemplating and evaluating technology’s influence and reach in my own life, for better and worse. Highly recommended.

Coming up: Lucky, Ella, and Rebecca ...

Vanishing Tarnished Doubt

2010-12-16T12:16:00.000-08:00

Part 34 of Books I Read in 2010

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to GoodReads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

We’re Just Like You, Only Prettier: Confessions of a Tarnished Southern Belle by Celia Rivenbark – The majority of the columns contained in this book try too hard and, as a result, fall flat. In Ms. Rivenbark’s attempt to be some fictional Southern everywoman, she rehashes old and tired jokes again and again and again. That said, there are a handful of columns that are brilliant – when Ms. Rivenbark stops trying to be her idea of funny and is simply herself, she’s a fantastic comedic writer. Unfortunately, those few great columns cannot quite make up for the rest of the collection. Not recommended.

Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway – Merchants of Doubt isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty close. Contained within its pages is a careful analysis of how a handful of corporations and scientists distorted public understanding for their own narrow purposes. The book is meticulously researched while also being appropriately simplified, given the wide range of material covered. I do wish the book had more explicitly pointed out the cost to the environment and human health caused by stirring up unnecessary doubt, especially on more settled issues such as smoking. I also disliked the authors’ conflating scientific method and political posturing. Unfortunately, science’s peer review process is not infallible, and casting it as if it is was an unnecessary weakness in the book’s analysis – especially when the authors themselves clearly explained how little research these so-called merchants of doubt performed on the contested issues. But those are very minor quibbles to what is an otherwise top-notch book. Highly recommended. (For what it's worth, this was the one hundredth book I read in 2010 - clearly, if reading were a drug, intervention would be needed.)

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden by Helen Grant – I have no idea why reviews called this book a modern-day fairy tale. Yes, it shares some of the Grimm Brothers’ darkness (although mostly due to the subject matter), but it lacks that spark of magic that a good fairy tale weaves around readers. Ten-year-old Pia’s attempts to make sense of a series of abductions in her sleepy German town is a decent read, but it’s a weird mix of a too simple plot with too many extraneous elements. It lacks the quirkiness of the Flavia de Luce novels, the terrifying beauty of Pan’s Labyrinth, and the dark magic of Inkheart. The book is just sort of there, and, by the time I finished it, I was mildly entertained, but that was about it. It’s not a bad novel; rather, it pales in comparison to some of the recent additions to the genre. Not recommended.

Coming up: Squirrel Haunts Internet ...

The Rant of Dislike

2010-12-13T09:46:00.000-08:00

Part 33 of Books I Read in 2010

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to GoodReads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete by William C. Rhoden – I’m not even going to bother with the niceties. Here’s a brief sampling of what didn’t work about this book:

If your book reads like an angry op ed run in a college newspaper, you did not do enough research.
Primary sources. They’re awesome. Try them sometime.
If you’re going to talk about black women in sports and you only give a cursory mention to the Williams sister and Cheryl Miller – to say nothing about Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes, et al. – you’re not doing your job.
If you’re going to try and pin everything on white people (and do nothing to differentiate people from the system), give readers more than a random assortment of quotes and no hard evidence.
If you’re going to discuss how college sports neglect athletes and turn them into automatons, not mentioning how many athletes are shepherded through the educational system without having to learn anything might be worth mentioning. I’d even think education that’s a farce would help underline the point of the book, which is that, as the title suggests, black athletes are little more than well-paid slaves, used for entertainment and discarded when convenient.
For that matter, what about mentioning all of the kids who base their entire lives around being professional athletes and flame out? What does the system do to them?
And hey, in addition to those $40-million dollar athletes, there are a lot of black men who play professionally and sustain life-altering injuries and/or make comparably little money. Seems like they might be worth including or mentioning.
No mention of Magic Johnson? Really? How about Elgin Baylor? Isiah Thomas? Reggie Miller? But an entire chapter bitching about Michael Jordan? Why is a nonfiction book centering on race and sports a good outlet for a whole chapter on unresolved issues about Air Jordan?
I could be wrong, but black culture is more than urban hip-hop. Why no discussion on how Madison Avenue adopted that culture and made it The Black Culture in America (and, by extension, created a mold for black athletes?)?
Most people have to play nice at their jobs. And most of them don’t get paid lots of money in the process. More than that, have you ever had to work with someone really difficult? Because, if you have, why would you want to applaud and encourage being difficult at work?
And this is what really gets to me: Why does every black athlete have to conform to one man’s narrow idea of what a black athlete should aspire to? Isn’t it their life and their decision, even if others may not agree?

Look, there are some major issues and problems in American sports culture. And a book discussing race and professional sports – and the exploitation of black men as disposable entertainment for the masses – is sorely needed. But this book adds very little to the subject, missing key points and lacking any sort of deep analysis and research to generate discussion on the subject. What information is included is narrow and selective, included to prove the author’s opinion and not much else. And, well, the organization is just random: chronological but not, endless repetition, unnecessary personal details of the author’s life mixed in with rants and the occasional quote. I give this book points for addressing an area of American culture that is sorely misunderstood – and I hope the idea for this book will encourage someone else to publish the book this subject deserves. Not recommended.

Coming up: Vanishing Tarnished Doubt ...

Rent-a-Tree

2010-12-10T19:36:00.000-08:00

I want to rent a Christmas tree.

As a kid, getting to see the same tree year after year would have been really neat. Actually, it would still be really neat.

Trampy Fables and Rules for Growing Up

2010-12-09T19:14:00.000-08:00

Part 32 of Books I Read in 2010

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to GoodReads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War by Andrew J. Bacevich – The title of this book is a bit more sensationalist than the book itself, which contains the sort of measured, even-keeled analysis that never fails to win me over (and is difficult to find in politics-related books anymore). This book goes beyond nonpartisan to be almost antipartisan: peaceniks and blood-thirsty hawks need not apply. Dr. Bacevich traces the shift in national security from World War II until the Bush Administration, and he is consistent in his analysis, drawing themes through the book and pointing out common threads even as the “policy” changes. It’s a damning and much needed critique of a system in need of fundamental change. Highly recommended.

Bless Your Heart, Tramp (and Other Southern Endearments) by Celia Rivenbark – A collection of columns, these observations on life (from a Southern perspective) are, as a whole, amusing. I wish the book had been organized chronologically rather than by “subject” (the first section makes it seem like it’s going to be run-of-the-mill Mommy humor, which can be entertaining but was, on the whole, the weakest part of the book) and that some references had not been updated to coincide with the republishing (I read the 2006 library edition, and a mention of Ashton and Demi dating followed by a present-tense comment on Al Gore running for president is just weird). The columns are nothing groundbreaking, but Ms. Rivenbark’s light style makes for a mindless, enjoyable read. Recommended.

Ella Minnow Pea: A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable by Mark Dunn – This tale by letters (of the postal kind) takes place on a fictional island, where the government is slowly banning letters (of the alphabetic kind). First off, I love the concept. It’s fun and creative, and Mr. Dunn uses the creativity of the concept to its full advantage. But (I know – there’s always a but with me) I’m a fan of subtle use of theme, and, for the first part of this book, Mr. Dunn uses literary two-by-fours over the head to point out his themes. The book would have been so much stronger if he had trusted readers to better grasp the symbolism, especially because, towards the end, the book makes his point beautifully, but it’s not really much of a surprise, given the earlier anvils. More than that, I wish he had used that page space dedicated to lengthy lectures about the themes to instead allow his main characters more doubt and less certainty in the changes to the world around them. Intractable beliefs – even those that are firmly in the right – are not only rather boring, but also carry the same sort of danger as any other extremist view. Nevertheless, recommended because it is interesting to follow the increasingly convoluted creativity involved in using fewer and fewer letters (and words) to make a point.

I’m Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted: A Memoir by Jennifer Finney Boylan – Another memoir from the author of She’s Not There, this is a book about all types of hauntings. The first half of this book is beautiful. It’s Ms. Boylan at her best, and when she’s at her best, there are few people with a better command of the English language. Halfway through the book, though, everything changes. While the first half is a delicate coming-of-age story that weaves between past and present and emotions of every stripe, the second half is rushed, with odds jumps between time periods and assumptions about other people and events that seemed unnecessary to the book (and somewhat intrusive to the people involved). Put another way: The first half of the book reminds me of everything good about the genre of memoirs. The second half reminds me of why I usually wish authors had opted for fiction instead of half-baked truths. I’m honestly not sure what I think about this book and some of the larger implications the problems of this book made me consider. Quasi-recommended for those who have already read She’s Not There and want an inferior “sequel.” And if you haven’t read She’s Not There, what are you waiting for?

Coming up: The Rant of Dislike ...

Disappointment Squared

2010-11-28T21:51:00.000-08:00

I've waited ten ******* years for the Pacers to beat the Lakers in Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, Peyton Manning threw four INTs and the Colts had their worst loss since 2002. Apparently breaking my heart with such a bad game wasn't enough: they also had to take away my delight in the Pacers finally beating the Lakers at the Staples Center (And no, I don't count their victories against the Clippers ... ).

So, here I am. Sitting in my apartment in Los Angeles and wishing the other Indiana team had beat the other Southern California team tonight. Funny how that works.

Sisterhood Falls

2010-11-25T23:15:00.000-08:00

Part 31 of Books I Read in 2010

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to GoodReads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow – Rachel is the daughter of an African-American G.I. and a Danish woman. Following a family tragedy, she moves to Portland, Oregon and lives with her paternal grandmother, a change which challenges her understanding of her identity and place in the world. The concept and set up for this book are wonderful, and the first half of the book tensely builds promise after promise, interweaving multiple characters’ perspectives on one tragic event. The book, however, fails to deliver on most of those promises, what with getting lost amidst literary pretension. Ms. Durrow treads too shallowly: in her attempt to not answer any questions and leave open ample room for discussion and interpretation, she fails to tell the story and creates an unnecessary distance between her readers and characters. She passes up numerous opportunities to delve into who her characters are and instead settles for keeping them as shadow puppets. Similar to Losing My Cool, I was disappointed and frustrated by faulty execution of a brilliant concept. Quasi recommended.

The Rhinestone Sisterhood: A Journey Through Small-Town America, One Tiara at a Time by David Valdes Greenwood – This inoffensive little book follows four small-town pageant queens in Louisiana as they represent their parishes throughout the state. Nothing too deep here, but I enjoyed this look into a subset of American culture steeped in tradition and sequins. The book works well in large part because Mr. Greenwood was smart enough to stick to one central subject without throwing in unnecessary facts and analysis. Recommended.

A Curtain Falls by Stefanie Pintoff – The sequel to In the Shadow of Gotham, this book has one redeeming factor: an interesting premise. Unfortunately, an interesting premise alone does not make for a good novel. The plot is long and rambling (I’m sorry, but when a murder mystery clocks in at almost 400 pages, I expect some complexity and twists). The “twists” that are in this book are so laughably bad even soap opera writers would be horrified. The characters are flat, flat, flat, and the dialog is so stilted that a couple of times I stopped reading, guessed the conversation, and was never once surprised. The main character – who is supposed to be a clever male detective – reads like an emotionally-stunted woman with a fashion fetish. The author alternates between anvil-style reminders that this is NYC in 1906 and dialogue and reactions dictated by modern sensibilities. The more I think about this book, the worse it gets. Not recommended.

Coming up: Trampy Fables and Rules for Growing Up ...

Nap City

2010-11-21T18:12:00.000-08:00

A museum dedicated to Kurt Vonnegut recently opened in Indianapolis. Awesome (and I mean that awesome seriously and not mockingly).

But I'm scratching my head at this: "A new cultural trail through downtown [Indianapolis] is being built in advance of the city’s hosting theSuper Bowl in 2012."

I like museums. I love sports. (My ultimate fantasy? Getting to go to a Super Bowl. Where the Colts, led by Peyton Manning, win.) But I doubt that even museum-junkie me would make time for museum visits if lucky enough to go to a Super Bowl. I didn't even take advantage of the museums in Edinburgh when I was there for the Fringe Festival! (Ok, I went to some castles ... but it was the first time I had ever been anywhere with real castles.) Before the Super Bowl, shouldn't a city, I don't know, build more bars? Or even better: Indy should have Go-Kart racing at the Speedway for the entire weekend. That would be awesome (even awesomer than a Vonnegut museum).

So when I eventually make my way back to the Midwest, I'll probably visit the Vonnegut museum. Unless it's during the Super Bowl.

Cézanne Strings the Hall

2010-11-18T12:54:00.000-08:00

Part 30 of Books I Read in 2010

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to GoodReads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Chasing Cézanne by Peter Mayle – A professional photographer accidentally stumbles upon the heist of a Cézanne, spurring a country-hopping caper. Like all of Mayle’s books, this is a meandering foray of a story with little in the way of excitement. Admittedly, the more I read his books, the less charming I find them: they are a bit too relaxed and a bit too repetitive. As I read this book, I kept thinking of cotton candy: how the first bite is wonderful but subsequent bites are little more than sickeningly sweet fluff. I like guilty pleasures, but the best guilty pleasures are more substantial than spun sugar. Mayle should stick with his forte of novels about idyllic French life that are not about much else, and I should stick to reading about one of them a year. Not recommended.

Bellfield Hall by Anna Dean (Dido Kent Mysteries No. 1) – Miss Dido Kent, spinster, finds herself embroiled in the mysteries of Bellfield Hall – including a murder – after her niece’s fiancé calls off the engagement. Not great literature by a long shot, it’s mildly entertaining with a decent plot. Parts of the beginning of the book read like a bad Austen imitation, but Ms. Dean develops her style as the book progresses. Recommended for when thinking is simply too much work.

The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley – I liked the first Flavia de Luce novel. I loved this one. Flavia’s whimsical world of traipsing around (by bike) a small English hamlet and solving mysteries is literary magic, and this book made me realize how deftly Mr. Bradley weaves a somewhat odd story (how easy it would be to write a bad book about an eleven-year-old fan of poisons who lives in 1950s rural England and solves murders). Maybe Flavia is too precocious for an eleven-year-old girl, but she’s curious and brilliant, far too mature but still somehow a child. Flavia is such a wonderful change from today’s ‘quirky’ but boring female protagonists, and I will fully admit she makes me wish I had been so cool at eleven. This book sealed the deal: I am utterly bewitched by Flavia and her wonderful world and cannot wait to fall back into it (and on a side note: this book makes me long for a day before television, cell phones, and the Internet). Highly recommended.

Coming up: Sisterhood Falls ...

Celebranthropy

2010-11-17T16:19:00.000-08:00

No deep thoughts. No expounding on the pros and cons of celebrities giving money to charities. Just a link. To an article. About the rise of philanthropy advisors.

Gods on the Edge of Civilization

2010-11-11T14:43:00.000-08:00

Part 29 of Books I Read in 2010

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to GoodReads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

The Edge of Ruin by Irene Fleming – It’s 1909, Thomas Edison is doing everything in his power to shut down independent filmmakers, and Emily Weiss’ husband has decided to sell everything and become an independent filmmaker. They are on schedule to complete four films in two weeks when one of Edison’s detectives is murdered on the set. Emily’s husband is arrested, and it’s up to her to save the day. This is a quirky murder mystery in the vein of an old Hollywood film, and I loved it. Admittedly, if I think too hard about this book, I could probably find fault, but I don’t really want to find fault with it. One of the most entertaining books I’ve read this year. Highly recommended.

Taming the Gods: Religion and Democracy on Three Continents by Ian Buruma – This is a slim 125 pager that’s a dense combination of political theory and current events. Definitely gave me some food for thought regarding the relationship between religion and politics, but I found the writing style too rooted in academic language and analysis for my taste. Quasi-recommended.

Pandora’s Seed: The Unforeseen Cost of Civilization by Spencer Wells – A combination of science (specifically genetics), anthropology, archeology, and current events, the first three-fourths of this book is an outstanding analysis of the continuing consequences (good and bad) of humanity’s switch to an agricultural society. The last couple of chapters were by no means bad but fell short of the level set by the earlier chapters: the analysis was shallow and broad, the conclusions short sighted and hasty, and Dr. Wells failed to carry through some of the themes from earlier chapters. As it is, this book adds something to the current conversation on the future of humanity but not enough to fully distinguish it, given how crowded the genre is. Quasi recommended for readers who, like me, are interested in the genre (and plan to read multiple books about the subject) and like their science with training wheels.

Coming up: Cézanne Strings the Hall ...

Baking Soda Indecision

2010-11-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

Kermit the Frog had it right. It's not that easy being green.

I've been using eco-friendly laundry detergent for years because of a skin sensitivity (as if braces, acne, and puberty were not bad enough, I developed patterned rashes on my elbows in junior high because of a sensitivity to laundry detergent). So, for me, lots of the green stuff started not because of a desire to save the environment but a desire to avoid headaches and embarrassment (never underestimate the fear of humiliation to motivate a person). So I do sort of recognize that I have had a much easier transition to the eco-friendly lifestyle than most. Let's face it, when your body is a canary in the toxic mine of life, you're more aware of the possible dangers and more eager to avoid them.

But for the love of all that is sustainable, being green is hard. The information keeps changing as more studies come out. The more I learn, the fewer products I'm willing to use. Case in point: I've become a convert to the power of baking soda. Love the stuff. It cleans better than most cleaners (especially most eco-friendly ones), is much cheaper, does not give a contact high, and other than when I also clean with vinegar (also a wonder product), there's no weird smell. It's great.

Then I read articles about how the manufacture of baking soda is not really no impact (for the record: yes, it's a blog post ... but it's a good composite of information I've read in bits and pieces elsewhere). And there's this little part of me that goes "We're screwed! Humanity is screwed! No matter what we do, we're going to kill the planet anyway!" I realize this little voice is not healthy and that panicking about every little thing is not really conducive to living life. Nevertheless, it's difficult to make a commitment to live my life in a certain way while not being able to entirely disengage from practices that are contrary to that commitment.

I know some people dismiss the current green trend, and I do think much of it is hype (as numerous articles from magazines like Natural Home point out - also, unnecessarily bringing carcinogens in my home? Ew. No thanks.). But I think the underlying reasons are good. The problem is understanding those underlying reasons, and breaking the habit of buying in ignorance is not easy. Living a green life means more than buying something labeled green. Our whole society is built around the idea of convenience, and getting out of that cycle takes work.

It's hard, and sometimes I do have moments of wondering why I've committed myself to this goal of being aware of my environment and what's in it (and what went into making the products that surround me). I wish I could end with some pithy comment or brilliant insight, but I don't have those yet. This whole lifestyle change is too new to me to have that wisdom.

So instead, let's go back to Kermit, because I think he's right:
It's not easy being green, but I think it's what I want to be.

Food and Wine

2010-11-04T09:13:00.000-07:00

Part 28 of Books I Read in 2010

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to GoodReads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Strangers at the Feast by Jennifer Vanderbes – A family gathers for Thanksgiving, but events put them on track for disaster. Ms. Vanderbes is a brilliant writer, but this book doesn’t showcase her talent. The characters are stereotypes, but not particularly good stereotypes. The book is ninety percent set up with anvil-level foreshadowing. There is a brilliant idea for a novel contained within these pages, and Ms. Vanderbes possesses the skill to make such an idea come to life, but this book is a misfire. This book reminded me of nothing so much as the sort of literary endeavor that gives satirists so much to work with – indeed, for the first several pages, I expected some twist indicating Ms. Vanderbes was subtly mocking high-brow literature and its pretensions. Unfortunately, I think Strangers at the Feast was intended as serious literature with no hint of irony. Not recommended.

The Vintage Caper by Peter Mayle – When three million dollars worth of wine disappears from a cellar in Los Angeles, the insurance company hires a former thief to locate the missing wine. This is a mystery, but it’s a laid-back mystery without many twists and full of French wine and food. This book is simply begging to be turned into a movie, what with beautiful women, wealthy men, and lots of breathtaking French landscape shots. Recommended if you want an extremely relaxed read.

Dead in the Dregs by Peter Lewis – Not bad for a first novel, this murder mystery begins when a wine writer’s body is discovered in a vat of wine. The writing gets better as the book goes on, and the plot is entertaining enough (especially after the first fifty pages), but I didn’t love it. The plot and characters seem half-finished, and the entire book comes across as an amateur effort. Recommended if, like me, one finished the Sunny McCoskey series and is desperate for a little more wine and mystery.

Coming up: Gods on the Edge of Civilization ...

How to Buy a National Orchestra

2010-10-28T07:52:00.000-07:00

Part 27 of Books I Read in 2010

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to GoodReads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

How to Buy a Love of Reading by Tanya Egan Gibson – The imperfect general summary: The Great Gatsby mixed with The O.C. with a splash of Reading Rainbow (and Ms. Gibson does not shy away from heavily referencing Fitzgerald’s work). This is a story about rich people with problems, about parents who decide to (as the title says) buy their daughter a love of reading by commissioning an author to write their daughter a book for her sixteenth birthday. This is more of a hook to a much larger story: characters and subplots overflow within these pages. It’s an ambitious work, and for 379 pages, Ms. Gibson crafts a beautiful, complicated tale that is simultaneously smart and simple, dark and quirky. She weaves an old and well-known story around her characters, and even though the reader has a good idea of what will happen, Ms. Gibson twists events just enough that it’s never entirely clear. The epilogue, however, feels like a big F-U to readers, trying to unnecessarily tie everything up into a neat happily-ever-after (in my opinion, Chapter 58 would have been a perfect ending to the book). But the biggest problem is that Ms. Gibson, after spending almost 400 pages gently mocking the rich and their ignorance of reality and poverty, comes across as similarly out-of-touch with this epilogue. I have no idea what Ms. Gibson intended with this ending, but, for me, she nullified what had, until that point, been one of the best novels I had read this year. Still recommended (with the caveat that, if you can manage, pretend the book ends with Chapter 59).

La’s Orchestra Saves the World by Alexander McCall Smith – This is a harmless, charming story about a woman living in rural England before and during World War II. While she does form an orchestra, it is a small part of a larger story about a woman restarting her life after her marriage ends. I really wish there had been more to the orchestra instead of it just sort of being there like a background prop. As it is, the title seems like false advertising. Recommended.

Condom Nation: The U.S. Government’s Sex Education Campaign from World War I to the Internet by Alexandra M. Lord – This book is informative, but slogging through it made me feel like I was back in law school reading dry government reports. The chronological organization, while easy to follow, makes the book seem repetitive at times and results in some awkward jumps between chapters and “eras” of sex education. There are many social and political issues touched on only briefly, which is to the book’s detriment – I would love to see what a social scientist would do with this material, because I think it would be a phenomenal read. I’m glad I read this book, but, honestly, I’m even happier to be done with it. Finally, I have to give props to Publishers Weekly for a spot-on review: “By slogging through a chronological account of sex education, she skips over the opportunity to consider why Americans have had such trouble talking not just about sex education, but about sex itself, and how that unease is at the core of this country's ambivalence over aggressive and candid programs promoting sex education for teenagers. The book functions, at best, as a desk reference, a year by year catalogue of government policy, rather than a substantive discussion of the modern history of American sex education.” Quasi-recommended.

Coming Up: Food and Wine ...

Losing

2010-10-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

Part 26 of Books I Read in 2010

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to GoodReads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World (and Finding New Ways to Get Through the Summer) by Stan Cox – An absolute plethora of information, the writing and organization are by no means bad but not quite up to par for a book with this much technical, sometimes dense material. More diagrams would have been preferable to some of the descriptions, and I’m not entirely convinced Mr. Cox delivered on the second part of the subtitle. I was impressed at the relatively neutral position Mr. Cox took in writing the book and found the book to be, overall, an interesting and informative read. Nevertheless, I find myself hesitant to recommend it as it is a dry read, and I can’t quite shake the feeling that a much shorter article on the same subject (with graphics) would be a better use of time. Quasi-recommended.

Losing Mum and Pup: A Memoir by Christopher Buckley – I’m going to begin on a rather odd note for a review about a book that deals with losing both parents within a year: Mr. Buckley ruined my fun. As I read this book, I found myself mulling over the thought that Mr. Buckley should have stuck with his promise to never write a memoir about his parents. I even had the review all mapped out in my head: I was ready to point out that in writing a book about that all-too-human emotion called grief, Mr. Buckley ably demonstrated just how divorced his family is from “normal” (and not in a good way) and how little they comprehend the trials most American families face during loved ones’ illnesses (I even had a pithy comment about how the book showed one of the flaws of WFB’s politics, which was a rather ironic thing to do in a book intended as a tribute). Then I finished reading the book, and the ending is so beautiful, so simple, that it’s been stuck in my head for more than a day. I’m now inclined to ignore the faults of the book, because few books can end on such a perfectly crafted note. In its sum total, this memoir is a touching tribute to Mr. Buckley’s parents that mixes Mr. Buckley’s penchant for humor with his very real grief. Recommended.

Losing My Cool: How a Father’s Love and 15,000 Books Beat Hip-hop Culture by Thomas Chatterton Williams – Unbelievably disappointing. I had read some of Mr. Williams’ articles and had been anticipating reading this book for months. It’s a great concept, but, well, the book doesn’t deliver on the title. Rather than nitpick the various problems, I’ll settle for weighing in what I believe is the most serious flaw: the story contained in these pages is an ordinary story that many, many college graduates experience (regardless of background). As a memoir, the book is boring and not particularly well told, and as a piece of serious analysis, it falls short. The tension between hip-hop culture and intellectualism in the African-American community is a fascinating area of study, but readers would be better served picking up another book on the subject. Not recommended.

Coming up: How to Buy a National Orchestra ...

Brain Food

2010-10-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

Reasons I'm kicking myself today: An article in the LA Times by Robert Gottlieb about our global food system. I could have taken a class (or even classes) with him in college but didn't. I now kind of regret that. Anyway, it's short, but it makes most of the essential points about the importance of buying locally. If anything, he's too nice.

The LA Times also discusses a recently released report about the grim statistics involving community colleges: seventy percent of community college students do not get a degree or transfer within six years. And while, yes, I do believe education is important regardless of the grade or the degree, it kind of seems like there is a problem here. Actually, I think there are multiple problems, and several of my thoughts on the system cannot be discussed among liberals (is it wrong that I sort of enjoy still having a handful of beliefs that terrify my fellow hippie tree huggers?). Since I don't have the time to craft a carefully worded analysis, I'll sum it up here: We can't fix the problem when the people in charge are not asking the right questions and operate on a basis of questionable assumptions. And this article shows we're still heading in the wrong direction.

Income Inequality

2010-10-19T09:59:00.000-07:00

New York Times. Great article featuring an economic analysis on the income gap in America. Might completely nerd out and read the authors' working paper.

The Vintage Sixties Town

2010-10-14T09:43:00.000-07:00

Part 25 of Books I Read in 2010

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to GoodReads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Lethal Vintage by Nadia Gordon (Sunny McCoskey No. 4) – I was recently talking with a friend about how much more enjoyable wine tasting is when not run by unbearable wine snobs and is instead done by people who love wine without pretension. The Sunny McCoskey series is sort of the same thing – it’s a murder mystery series without the pretension. I’ve read a handful of mystery books recently that seemed more focused on being “more" than a murder mystery (often at the expense of the story), and really, give me Sunny and her simple and uncomplicated adventures. Sunny going to a party and waking up the next morning to discover the hostess is dead? Absolutely. Having Sunny end up as a potential suspect? Sounds like fun. Could the plot be more complicated? Yep. But there’s a sort of light-hearted fun that pervades the Sunny McCoskey series, and each book tends to get better in that regard. I hope Ms. Gordon doesn’t take too long on No. 5, because I think we could all do with a little less pretension and a little more fun. Recommended.

The Long Sixties: From 1960 to Barack Obama by Tom Hayden – Not Hayden’s best work. He starts with a great thesis (history is a struggle between Machiavellis and movements and the 1960s defined this conflict exceptionally well), but the book itself is a weird amalgamation of memoir, too much information, scattershot organization and analysis, and a second thesis (the 1960s made Obama’s election possible). It’s too much for 185 pages, and as a result, nothing quite works. On the plus side, the Sixties timeline at the back of this book is a great reference. I’ve heard that this is a precursor to a larger book Hayden is writing on the movement vs. Machiavellis dynamic, so my hope is the next book will stay on track and not try and fail to do too many things at once. Not recommended.

The Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food by Ben Hewitt – The title is a bit of a misnomer: this book is less about a settled story than about a town in transition. Mr. Hewitt is a Vermont native, and he has written a unique book that deftly treads the line between engaging the personal and objectively analyzing the changes to Hardwick, VT, which has become a model for the local food movement. He makes no apologies for where he stands on the issue of food in America (local sustainability, although he dislikes that term), yet he looks at the pros and cons of this movement, engaging the local populace of Hardwick, VT to help color the various opinions. This book is not heavy on facts and figures – rather, it’s about one man’s instincts and observations, a style which is difficult to successfully manage but which works beautifully here, partially because Mr. Hewitt writes in an unassuming style and never claims to have all of the answers. Those who want hard answers and manifestos will be disappointed, but I found it a thoroughly enjoyable read – and I like that it’s given me food for thought rather than prepackaged opinions. Highly recommended.

Coming up: Losing ...

Radical Tattoos

2010-10-07T08:29:00.000-07:00

Part 24 of Books I Read in 2010

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to GoodReads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (Millennium Series No. 1) – Hello, Bandwagon. Mind if I jump on? I should pause here and mention that this review does have some non-explicit quasi-spoilers. Anyway: The hype is somewhat deserved, although the story is much darker than I expected, and I wish, prior to reading, I had known how, well, descriptive some of the scenes involving sex and violence are. This is not a book for the faint hearted. What I had been warned about is that the book starts slow, but I honestly found the last one hundred pages much slower than the first one hundred. The book has two plots and one of them, as told, has no real tension or conflict, yet it gets top billing for the last hundred pages. Additionally, by the time I reached the denouement of the other plot, the disturbing violence was old hat, given how shocking some of the scenes were earlier in the book, which lessened the effect of the final twists. Yes, the book is a page-turner (and it seems much shorter than its almost 600-page length), but I found both the resolution and characters somewhat disappointing. Overall, a fun read, but I can’t help but feel I just spent several hours reading one man’s midlife crisis of his dream of being some journalistic James Bond. Given how popular this book is, I doubt my review much matters … although I do recommend it (for the non-faint hearted).

The Radicalism of the American Revolution by Gordon S. Wood – Another book that earns its Pulitzer Prize and then some. I made the mistake of starting this book while in law school, so I ended up reading it off and on over a period of years. Part of why this book took so much time to read is that it is an unbelievably dense tome that requires long stretches of unwavering attention. Dr. Wood covers an enormous amount of material without ever letting it up, yet the book coalesces into a brilliant narrative. While the length of time between starting and finishing the book was not ideal, it afforded me the chance to see how the book affected my thinking, and I can comfortably say this is one of the most influential books I’ve ever read, given how it altered and shaped my understanding of numerous topics. Reviews call this book a tour de force, and this is one time the term is well deserved. Highly, highly, highly recommended.

Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion by Father Gregory Boyle – In May, I had the opportunity to hear Father Boyle speak – and I’m glad I did, as he’s an amazing speaker with a unique voice and style. The book shares his speaking style, and, while I think I would have enjoyed the book even if I had not heard him speak, being able to hear his voice while reading did make it easier to appreciate the book from the start. (On a side note, even if you don’t want to read the book, if you ever have the chance to hear him speak: GO). This book is a memoir of Father Boyle’s two decades in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles and his work in establishing and running Homebody Industries. For those who either hate religion or are incapable of humanizing gang members, well, this book should probably be skipped. But I think most people will find it hard not to find something to appreciate within this slim tome’s pages. Father Boyle’s faith permeates this book, but rather than mire the book in one denomination, it enhances his tales and reminded me of the best of religion and religious leaders. The book is simultaneously inspiring and heart wrenching, and if the style is disjointed at times, it’s only because this man has so many stories to illustrate each chapter and point. A fascinating contrast to The New Jim Crow, it left me mulling over many things, not least of which are the nature of faith, compassion, and love and the power of religious figures to step above the fray and be neutral guardians of the best of the human spirit. As a whole, this book is stunningly beautiful, and I highly recommend not only reading it but also buying it.

Coming up: The Vintage Sixties Town ...

Vegetables for all

2010-10-05T11:49:00.000-07:00

This is the sort of feel good story that always makes me smile and feel better about the world. What a wonderful use of a backyard ...

Stories like this also remind me that at some point, I really need to turn my black thumb into a green thumb.

The Particular Thief and the New Key

2010-09-30T12:08:00.000-07:00

Part 23 of Books I Read in 2010

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to GoodReads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender – This book was not at all what I expected. Yes, it’s about a young girl named Rose who discovers she can taste the emotions of people who make her food, but that’s a small part to a much larger story that is solidly in the allegorical category (and probably could have used a little more grounding in traditional storytelling). If anything, I wish there had been more of Rose’s journey to acceptance of this gift / curse, as that part of the story did not quite have a full arc and instead used bits and pieces of her life to hint at her journey. I read one review that described this book as feeling a draft short of a masterpiece, and I have to say I agree. But even a draft short, this is a good book that will leave readers (or, at least, me) pondering its pages long after finishing. In retrospect and knowing the whole story, many of the choices Ms. Bender made in telling this story make sense (yes, even the incredibly annoying lack of quotation marks) and I am glad I took time to read this book. I overall liked it, and I have to admit the more pessimistic tone of this review is due to frustration at feeling like Ms. Bender was so close to writing an enduring classic but ended a revision short. Recommended.

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander – This is, without a doubt, one of the best legal books I’ve ever read. Ms. Alexander takes an admittedly controversial thesis – that the U.S.’s current criminal laws (especially those involving the War on Drugs) are a new version of the pre-Civil Rights Jim Crow laws – and delivers a balanced analysis that is brilliantly executed. This could have easily been a bad book with either scattered research or ham-handed analysis. Instead this book is the sort of well-researched and well-written scholarship that treads lightly in dealing with a controversial topic while still driving home its salient points. While having a law degree is helpful in understanding some of Ms. Alexander’s arguments and explanations, I think most people will find this book accessible. Bottom line? This is an absolutely remarkable book that deserves much attention and discussion. Highly, highly recommended and more or less required for anyone with a law degree.

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana di Rosnay – After reading A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True earlier this year, I was interested in reading another novel that told two parallel stories, one of which occurs during WWII. This story takes place in France at two different points. In 1942, a young girl locks her brother in a closet when police come to take their family, thinking she will be back shortly. In 2002, a journalist assigned to write a story on the sixtieth anniversary of the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup finds, in the course of her research, the lines between professional and personal blurred. This is an engaging book, and while I found it a stronger novel than A Long, Long Time Ago, it does not quite hang together. There’s a complicated, beautiful story lurking within Sarah’s Key, but the book as it is feels like the made-for-television version of that story. That’s not to say the book isn’t engaging – it’s riveting, despite characters that are more placeholders than people and some awkward moments and manufactured twists. Indeed, the book soars with its emotional depth, making it easy to overlook the flaws – until the ending. The resolution is awkward and clichéd, drawing attention to the plot’s flaws and failing to deliver the necessary punch that a story of this emotional magnitude deserves. Recommended for the first 250 pages. Quasi-recommended when considered as a whole.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – Couldn’t get into it and not really understanding all of the accolades. This Holocaust-era story (as told by Death) comes across as a bad combination of too many overused plot devices and just begs for a parody (and yes, I know enough of the plot to know such a comment is borderline blasphemy – but, really, I blame the author and possibly the Family Guy writers, who made Death into one of their most endearing and complicated characters). But, hey, overused plot devices can still make for a good story … except when the writing style is the equivalent of nails on a blackboard. Given the book’s length (it clocks in at over 500 pages), I decided to spend my reading time elsewhere.

Coming up: Radical Tattoos ...

Mystery, Mystery, and More Mystery ...

2010-09-23T11:42:00.000-07:00

Part 22 of Books I Read in 2010

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to GoodReads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Death by the Glass by Nadia Gordon (Sunny McCoskey No. 2) – Similar to the first book in the series, this is mindless entertainment involving murder, wine, and Napa Valley. I enjoyed it, even with figuring out the identity of the murderer within the first forty pages. Somewhat recommended.

Murder Alfresco by Nadia Gordon (Sunny McCoskey No. 3) – Best plot of the series and also the creepiest of the series to date. I very much recommend not starting this book at bedtime as Sunny’s discovery of a dead body is leaps and bounds more spine-tingling than anything in prior books. Cannot believe my local library does not own the next book, as I’m dying (pun intended) to get another fix of Sunny’s entertaining adventures with wine. Recommended.

In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff – Amateur writing almost overwhelms this murder mystery’s decent plot. Given the credentials of both the book and the author, I had high expectations for this debut novel, and I finished disappointed. It’s not a bad book, but I have no idea why it won the Edgar Award for best first novel. Set in and around New York City in 1905, the perfectly-arranged murder of a young woman in the middle of the afternoon sets in motion an investigation that ties in the major earmarks of the age: women’s rights, psychotherapy, Tammany Hall, etc. Ms. Pintoff clearly did her research, but the end product is clunky with stock characters and stereotypes and saved only by an engaging plot (that unraveled slightly at the end). Admittedly, I’m interested to read the sequel to see if the writing improves. Quasi-recommended.

Coming up: The Particular Thief and the New Key ...

A Civilized Society

2010-09-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

"Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society."
- Oliver Wendell Holmes

As I've previously mentioned, I grew up in an [upper] middle class home that was staunchly Republican. Ten years and several intervening events later, I am now liberal and, despite my education, currently among the economic lower class. Suffice it to say, actually living on a minimum-wage salary with little in the way of a safety net makes one more understanding of what it means to be truly poor as compared to college-student poor (and, for the record, given the advantages of my upbringing and education, I don't think I fully comprehend the true desperation of poverty - in that, I consider myself fortunate). I have faith that I will eventually recover financially and be back among the well-heeled white-collar workers of America, but, more than anything, I hope I will remember what I learned from this unintended tight-rope walk with the poverty line.

The recent outrage over taxes, however, may be my undoing. I grew up in a conservative family, yet even my family followed Holmes' famous axiom - I remember briefly picking up some of the anti-tax rhetoric in high school and getting a lecture from my father, where I was imparted with the following wisdom: (1) Consider yourself fortunate to live in a family that is doing well enough financially to be in a high tax bracket; and (2) Taxes are a small price to pay for the good fortune of being an American.

It's simple logic, but it's logic that's served me well. As a result, I admittedly have difficulty understanding those who whine about making six figures and being taxed between thirty and forty percent while denying those who can barely afford the cost of living health care, a living wage, etc. If I had to choose between making enough to fork over forty percent of my income to the government and working a minimum wage job and not paying taxes, let me assure you I will pick the former every single time. I'm sure many people would argue with these two choices, but that's our current reality in America.

Anyway, Paul Krugman wrote a great opinion piece today about this subject.

ETA: And the L.A. Times also added a worthwhile opinion to the debate.

Emma-Jean Lazarus Has a Secret

2010-09-16T10:08:00.000-07:00

Part 21 of Books I Read in 2010

[Disclaimer: This is nothing but my own opinion of these books - if you've read them, I'd love to know what you thought. The links will direct you to GoodReads, where you can see how my opinions stack up with the readers there.]

Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis – Emma-Jean is the female, junior-high version of Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory – and it admittedly threw me for the first few chapters. But once I adapted to girl Sheldon (and Emma-Jean’s own personality became more noticeable), I enjoyed this quasi-Mean Girls story of Emma-Jean’s attempts to help her classmates. In many ways, the story is a bit of a junior-high fairy tale, where mean girls are the exception and popularity is second to kindness. It’s a story dependent on the main character, and Emma-Jean is likeable, partially because it’s easy to relate (at least for me) to her well-meaning, odd duck status. Recommended.

Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell in Love by Lauren Tarshis – A rare sequel that is better than the original, this book is as much about Emma-Jean as it is about her classmate Colleen. Love is in the air at William Gladstone Middle School, and Emma-Jean is facing the reality of her first crush. I’ve decided part of what I like about Emma-Jean and Co. is that, compared to most books meant for tweens and teens, they are more reminiscent of what I remember of junior high: there’s giggling and dramatics but it’s tempered with kindness and those early, faltering steps into maturity and learning about the world. I very much hope Ms. Tarshis will continue with either the Emma-Jean series or more books in a similar vein as they’re the sort of thoughtful, easy reads that appealed to me as a child but were sometimes difficult to find. Recommended.

The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives by Lola Shoneyin – This is a story that could have very easily been an unyielding descent into the darkest of human emotions, the sort of story that sets out to show how horrible life is without pause. Instead this tale of the four wives of an arrogant yet insecure man in Nigeria is a rollercoaster, a journey through the broad expanse of human emotions and relationships. I veered between hating and sympathizing with the majority of the characters, and Ms. Shoneyin should be commended for her deft creation of several very complex personalities. The plot unfolds slowly, and the tension comes not from surprise twists (Ms. Shoneyin heavily foreshadows) but rather from knowing what may come. Indeed, it’s a rare book where the last sentence is as important as the first for making sense of the book. Highly recommended (with the caveat that it is not even close to being a light read and the intended audience is definitely adults).

Coming up: Mystery, Mystery, and More Mystery ...