Something More Substantial

Gravity vs. the Girl by Riley Noehren

2011-05-22T23:38:00.000-06:00

I loved this book so much it actually brought me out of a year and a half book review hibernation. It is funny, witty, and relevant. It's privately published so a little spendy but I understand it is available on kindle so maybe that helps. LOVED it. You must read. Must. Something More Substantial if ever there was one.

Room by Emma Donoghue

2011-05-22T23:18:00.001-06:00

I was surprised by this book. I really expected it to be depressing. Actually it was rather inspiring. The story is about a five year old boy whose mother was abducted seven years earlier and has in the years since been kept prisoner by her abductor in a shed. (See? Sounds depressing/disturbing, right?) Through the understanding of this sweet little boy we see a charming view of the world as he knows it inside of Room. When they manage to escape they experience bittersweet adjustment to a whole new world but the book ends with hope.

I really liked this book. I loved the kind of mother this boy has and the efforts she makes to create a happy, healthy, loving life for him. Reading this inspired me to be a better mother and that's why I think it is something more substantial.

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

2011-05-22T23:09:00.002-06:00

I've put off getting and reading this for a couple of years. I wish I hadn't. Maybe I wouldn't have been so disappointed if I hadn't waited so long to read it. The story is meticulously rendered like Hale's other fairy tales. The details are evocative and consistent. The setting is medieval Mongolia and she paints a believable, breathable picture. That said, the story was just ho hum for me. I was bored. If you're going to read Shannon Hale I would recommend you skip this one and pick up something else she has written. Not that this book wasn't okay. It's just that the others are better.

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

2011-05-22T22:06:00.000-06:00

Sigh. I didn't even want to review this book after reading it. In fact, I had decided not to but I just saw that it is one of the books on my A-Z Challenge so I felt like I should. What to say... what to say...? My mom recommended it. When I mentioned to my best friend from 7th grade that I was reading it she got very enthusiastic and went on about how it is her favorite book of all time and how she regularly buys new copies since she is always giving her copies away. SO- some people like this book. I guess. I suppose they would have to for it to keep being printed and selling copies. I am not one of those people. Not even a little bit. Not even just one part. I think I'll stop there.

Some objections: general lack of reverence for the Divinity of Christ (Owen, we are to understand, is the result of another immaculate conception and is worshipped by the narrator after Owen's death), the politics (but if you hate Republicans it probably won't irritate the crap out of you), the language, and this quote:

"...although the subject of the president's personal (or sexual) morality would not have dampened everyone's enthusiasm for his political ideals and his political goals, Owen Meany was not "everyone"--nor was he sophisticated enough to separate public and private morality."

"...it seems that the only people who are adamant in their claim that public and private morality are inseparable are those creep-evangelists who profess to "know" that God prefers capitalists to communists, and nuclear power to long hair."

Truly there are no words.

In addition to my general objections, the pacing is too slow. We spend hundreds of pages building up to something we're supposed to care about and by the time you get there you are so sick of waiting for the moment that the feeling is more one of "FINALLY!" instead of "Oh NO! Poor OWEN!".

Skip this one. And if after reading this you really feel you must experience it, rent Simon Birch from Netflix instead. I understand Ashley Judd is lovely as usual.

AACK! Has It REALLY Been THAT Long?!!

2010-01-16T22:46:00.023-07:00

I was chatting with a friend from high school the other day and mentioned this blog. She jumped right on here and said something about "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society...". I thought, wait- what? I asked her if that was the last thing I had posted and she said yes. My, how time and books have slipped by. :) Here are some of the ones you missed:

P.S., I Love You by Cecelia Ahern
I had a hard time with this one. I kept comparing it to the movie (which I love) and trying to decide which I liked better. I never really came to a clear conclusion. I think the writing is great. I absolutely love the characters- they are all much more likable in the book. There is a much stronger family dynamic and the characters seem to have a much more firm footing on higher moral ground. I thought the ending was a little anti-climatic. (This is the main thing I liked better about the movie.) Overall, I was glad that I read it and I look forward to reading more Cecelia Ahern so I think it deserves to be called something more substantial.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
LOVED this. It wasn't nearly as violent as the first one. It was a little more political and had shades of 1984. Katniss Everdeen faces the fallout of her decision to rebel (in the previous book, The Hunger Games) and finds herself torn between the two men who love her. I thoroughly enjoyed this and it was not too predictable for the most part. (There were a couple obvious things but they did not detract in any way.) I can't wait for the third book of this trilogy to come out. The series makes for some great book discussions and is a great choice for book groups. For this reason I think Catching Fire is something more substantial.

Stones From the River by Ursula Hegi
A very dear friend recommended this to me. She said it was her favorite book and so I delved in with high expectations. The metaphors are wonderful; truly excellent craftsmanship. No matter how hard I tried though, I just could not get into the story. It is so, SO sad. The book is told from the perspective of a Little Person in Pre-WWII/Nazi Germany. It starts when she is a tiny little girl and tells how her mother believed that the baby girl's condition was a punishment from God. The mother could not bond with her, most likely due to postpartum depression, and shuts down completely for years. When the mother becomes pregnant again, the little girl is so afraid that the new baby will be normal and that her mother will not love her anymore, that she eats the sugarcubes left on the windowsill for the stork. She hopes that if she does this, the stork will not leave a baby. The baby is stillborn and the girl believes that she has killed him. Her mother sinks into a depression so deep that she has to be sent to an asylum for shock therapy and eventually dies. The girl believes she has killed her mother. Mixed in with all this are the everyday challenges of being a Little Person, being discriminated against, etc. The father and the Jewish lady across the street are the only bright spot in her life. They show her kindness and love. I only got about halfway through the book when I could force myself to go no farther. I can only assume something horrible happens to the Jewish woman and I couldn't take the sadness anymore. I am sorry that Little People have the struggles they do, but surely there must be a slightly less slit-your-wrists book about it than Stones From the River. Skip this one.

Remembering Isaac by Ben Behunin
Groan. I have this thing. I HATE not knowing how things end. I cannot walk out of a movie, I can't turn off a t.v. program in the middle, and I certainly have a difficult time putting a book down once I've started it. So I REALLY hate it when I read to the last page and the story doesn't end. I'm not talking like Harry Potter where there is an arc and a plotline resolves but other questions are unanswered to keep you hooked for the next one. I'm fine with that. It is what makes reading a series fun. No, what I'm talking about here is when you turn the page expecting at least another chapter- even another sentence- and lo, and behold the book is TO BE CONTINUED. It's a cheap trick and it makes me really mad at author, editor, and publisher alike. Such is Remembering Isaac. It is not a book. It is HALF a book. There was not enough resolution for this to be worth my while. It makes me grumpy every time I remember the day and a half I spent reading it. The writing is stilted and preachy. I agree with the tenets Mr. Behunin is trying so skill -lessly to weave into the book, but I think the way he did it smacks of a public library puppet show for preschoolers. Mr. Squirrel needs to find out where the magical nut stash is and he goes to Mr. Owl, Mr. Bunny, and Mr. Frog, each in turn to ask them if they know where it is. Bleagh. Skip this one.- On the other hand,

Discovering Isaac by Ben Behunin
is much, much better. I read it because, as previously stated, I can't stand not to know how it ends. It's a compulsion. Even if it's a Lifetime Original Movie from the 80's, if I see more than 5 minutes of it, I have to see it through to the end. Probably I could take medication...? I digress. The book is still TO BE CONTINUED (ARGGGHHHHH!), but the writing is leaps and bounds over the first one. The little moral lessons are much more subtly woven into the story and the love story picks up enough that you really want to find out what happens to their relationship. Maybe the last book in the trilogy will actually be good. Since it is still not a finished story, I am going to say skip this one too.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney
In an effort to connect with my boy, I picked these up to see what he was reading. They are funny, irreverent, and made me feel guilty for laughing out loud at things that I shouldn't laugh about. (e.g.- Greg's friend Rowley gets blamed for something Greg does and Greg is trying to decide what the right thing to do is. He comes to the conclusion that the right thing to do is to let Rowley "take one for the team on this". Then when his mom asks him if he did the right thing or not and he answers Yes, she takes him out for ice cream.) The stories are a little mean-spirited, but I think the point is to teach right and wrong through irony. This might be great for middle schoolers, who deal almost exclusively in sarcasm, but for my 3rd grader I am afraid that all the implied lessons on virtues may be a little lost. I enjoyed this very much and it got my son to read four books in three days so I'm going to say it's refined sugar.

My Best Friend's Girl by Dorothy Koomson
Another in an endless supply of airplane books, My Best Friend's Girl is sweet but a little ho hum. The story is about Kamryn, a woman whose best friend dies of leukemia leaving her five year old daughter to be raised. Kamryn takes her in and the book is sort of the story of the adjustment she makes to the new life of being a mom and falling in love with both the girl and a would-be father. I was in love with the love interest by the end and I liked the main character, but this book isn't going to stick with me. I would be surprised if I even remember reading it a year or two down the road. It's not substantial but I did enjoy it so if you have nothing better to do or you're looking for that perfect weekend on the beach book, this is good refined sugar.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
This was another book that my son was reading and I had been recommended it several times in the last couple years. The story was a fun romp through Greek mythology, set in modern times in NYC. I liked it as much as the first Harry Potter book and I can't wait to read the next one in the series (Percy Jackson and the Olympians). Because it drew me in and because it makes Greek mythology so accessible to young adults, I feel this is something more substantial.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Another book that I read because I loved the movie so much. The characters were more loveable in the movie, more realistic in the book. Even though I knew what was coming, I bawled my eyes out at the end and when I closed the book I marched upstairs and made love to my husband. It was really good. The book is peppered with strong profanity and there is mention of illicit drug use several times. Overall I liked it though and because I really had to concentrate to wrap my mind around and make sense of the paradoxes intrinsic in time travel, I feel like this is something more substantial- profanity notwithstanding.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shafer and Annie Barrows

2009-11-19T20:47:00.014-07:00

Bad Germans. Good Germans. This account of the German occupation in British Guernsey has them all. Artfully woven vignettes that paint a vivid picture of WWII England and what the Occupation experience was illustrate how goodness is not so much a matter of geography as it is a matter of the heart.

The story is told though written correspondence amongst the different characters in the book and I found the many voices charming. (I kept holding auditions in my mind with various British and Irish actors/actresses for the movie. My cast was great.) : ) Because of this letter-turned-story format, I expected to find the plot disjointed. I was pleasantly surprised that the story flowed along quite nicely. The characters were quirky and endearing and the authors did an amazing job of balancing the heavy and sad things in the story with accounts that were equally uplifting and inspiring.

My one criticism for Guernsey was that it was really easy to put this book down. Because the letters are each only two or three pages long, there were natural breaks in the book all the time. This is fine for someone who is very busy but wants to take a couple minutes each day to read. I, however, like a book that will suck me in and eat away the hours without giving me the slightest hint that I am beginning to petrify on the couch. : ) In spite of the ease with which I could disengage, I still thought the overall message of the book was quite beautiful. The love story was sweet and not completely predictable. Something more substantial to be sure.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

2009-11-19T20:47:00.013-07:00

This is easily something more substantial. It wasn't my intention to read two of these in a row. This was a happy accident though. The writing is excellent. The language is surprising. The perspective is original. The message is touching. Read it. It's good.*

*You should know going into this story that it is a Holocaust book and therefore may contain themes which are difficult to read.

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

2009-11-19T14:53:00.018-07:00

Hmmm. There were little moments when I loved what Elizabeth Gilbert was saying and how she was saying it. There were bigger moments where I hated the book and her attitude and everything about what she is peddling as spirituality. This made for a pretty good book group discussion. Overall I would have to say I didn't like it but I would recommend it. I'm not sure if that qualifies as something more substantial or what, but for lack of a better category I will give it that. I would like to share some of the little gems that struck a chord for me.

I loved how the book was structured.

"Introduction

How This Book Works

The 109th Bead"

"When you're traveling in India...you see a lot of people wearing beads around their necks. ... These strings of beads are called japa malas."

"The traditional japa mala is strung with 108 beads. Amid the more esoteric circles of Eastern philosophers, the number 108 is held to be most auspicious, a perfect three-digit multiple of three, its components adding up to nine, which is three threes. And three, of course, is the number representing supreme balance, as anyone who has ever studied either the Holy Trinity or a simple barstool can planinly see. Being as this whole book is about my efforts to find balance, I have decided to structure it like a japa mala, dividing my story into 108 tales, or beads. This string of 108 tales is further divided into three sections about Italy, India and Indonesia- the three countries I visited during this year of self-inquiry."

I loved this. Each section has 3 names as well. I thought it was very clever writing.

There was a bit her friend in Italy told her about cities that I also loved.

"He said, "Don't you know that the secret to understanding a city and its people is to learn-what is the word of the street?" Then he went on to explain, in a mixture of English, Italian and hand gestures, that every city has a single word that defines it, that identifies most people who live there. If you could read people's thoughts as they were passing you on the streets of any given place, you would discover that most of them are thinking the same thought. Whatever that majority thought might be- that is the word of the city. And if your personal word does not match the word of the city, then you don't really belong there. "What's Rome's word?" I asked. "SEX," he announced. "But isn't that a stereotype about Rome?" "No." "But surely there are some people in Rome thinking about other things than sex?" Giulio insisted: "No. All of them, all day, all they are thinking about is SEX." "Even over at the Vatican?" "That's different. The Vatican isn't part of Rome. They have a different word over there. Their word is POWER." "You'd think it would be FAITH." "It's POWER," he repeated. "Trust me. But the word in Rome- it's SEX." ... Guilio sked, "What's the word in New York City?" I thought about this for a moment, then decided. "It's a verb, of course. I think it's ACHIEVE." (Which is subtly but significantly different fromt he word in Los Angeles, I believe, which is also a verb: SUCCEED....)"

I found that so intriguing. I've been trying to pin down my own word ever since reading it.

There was one other part I had intended to share about how prayer works but I really don't want to spoil it for you if you are going to read the book. If you do, it is on the 58th bead (p.176).

Trespassers Will Be Baptized: The Unordained Memoir of a Preacher's Daughter by Elizabeth Emerson Hancock

2009-08-07T15:41:00.017-06:00

This was so much fun to read. Another airplane book but very enjoyable. On second thought, you wouldn't want to read it on an airplane. The number of times I laughed out loud would definitely draw stares in an enclosed space.

Emy is a very precocious child. Her stories are poignant, sometimes inspiring and always entertaining. I appreciated that the ending was unpredictable. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I want to thank Kim at Good Clean Reads for the recommendation. When I finished this book I felt as if I'd walked- well, not a mile in someone else's shoes, but at least to the end of the driveway- and because of that I'd say it is something more substantial.

Specials by Scott Westerfield

2009-08-07T15:41:00.012-06:00

I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. Adrenaline rush on paper! I am so glad that Scott Westerfield made reading Pretties worth the effort. : ) There is definitely an environmentalist agenda in this one so be aware if you have not yet succumbed to the mass marketing of "being green". I am so relieved that this was something more substantial.

Girls In Trucks by Katie Crouch

2009-08-07T15:41:00.006-06:00

Skip this one. This is what I get for judging a book by its cover. Love the picture. Hated the book. This is a light-minded-read-on-a-short-airplane-trip book about making all the wrong turns in life. I have nothing against fluff books. Sometimes I really enjoy a good airplane book. Not this time. I kept waiting for the girl to learn her life lesson and change her ways or her path or something. I was disappointed. She never does get a clue and I think we're supposed to feel happy that she meets someone at the end who is not a total slimeball. I don't go in for man-hater books and I definitely felt this was one. Total waste of time. In the words of a good friend, "I would like those three hours of my life BACK please."

The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry

2009-07-24T13:41:00.004-06:00

My mom sent us this one along with several others to be used as a family read-aloud. I am glad I read it by myself first however, as I do not think it suitable as a read-aloud for young children. That said, I thought it was a wonderful book for probably 5th or 6th grade readers. It is filled with tons of great vocabulary (it has a glossary in the back) and is a sort of who's who of children's books with mentions of everything from the Bobsie Twins to Anne of Green Gables. Be warned that almost ALL of the adults in the book are wicked, evil people and the story has a slightly anti-parent/child slant. Everything turns out all right in the end and to the satisfaction of the reader and the characters. I don't want to tell about the plot because I don't want to give too much away. Just trust me when I say it is a charmingly good read and something more substantial.

Thyroid Power by Richard and Karilee Halo Shames

2009-07-13T17:04:00.005-06:00

Ugh. Infomercial.

I have an open mind. I am willing to consider alternative medicine and homeopathy and other methods of wholistic healing. I do however, believe that if you are looking for information on a particular approach to wellness, it is a mistake to find out about it from someone who is going to directly benefit from your use of it- say the inventors, for example. This book was recommended to me because of the thyroid problems I've been dealing with for several months but it is completely biased and I would never recommend it to anyone. Skip this one.

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

2009-06-25T16:13:00.007-06:00

Eh. Color me nonplussed. This was disappointing after the excitement of the first one. The writing was consistent throughout the book but because the setting was among the light-minded "pretties", it was consistently annoying. I read this book beacuse I loved the first one so much and I am hoping/expecting the next one ("Specials") to be better, but on it's own I'd say skip this one. Except you can't. Oh well. : )

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2009-05-11T18:21:00.003-06:00

The Hunger Games is an apocalyptic tale of a society where the rich/ruling class control the masses through a campaign of televised intimidation. Katniss Everdeen rebels against the system when she volunteers to take her sister's place in the Hunger Games, a mandatory fight to the death with 23 other teenagers from across the country. This story was very exciting, and not entirely predictable. I read the whole thing in one sitting- about 5 hours and enjoyed all but the last minute of it. The flavor of the book suggested something along the lines of Uglies. If you liked that one, you'll like this one. The writing of The Hunger Games was average but very engaging. I was disappointed that the story came to a screeching halt and left me hanging for the next book to have anything resolved. I hate that. Scott Westerfield handled that so much better in Uglies. In this book I felt like almost nothing was resolved. Still, it was a really fun read so I say it's something more substantial.

Three Weeks With My Brother by Nicholas Sparks

2009-04-27T17:18:00.014-06:00

This book is a memoir written about the author's family and experiences growing up. I liked the themes of family solidarity, sibling friendship, and putting your family first. It was fun to read about the people that Nicholas Sparks' other books are based on. Overall though, the book was just a little ho-hum for me. Like this review, it just didn't have any- SPARK. I enjoyed it but I was never so drawn in that I could not easily put it down and when I did put it down, I did not easily pick it back up again. I think it is something more substantial based on content but the writing doesn't quite qualify it for a hearty endorsement.

The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon

2009-04-10T11:31:00.012-06:00

Ooooo. This is so good. This is the other time travel book recommended to me by a friend that I mentioned before. I have to say it was much, much more fun to read than the other one. The only thing about the other one that I liked better was that it was clean.

This book was very realistic. The series is historical fiction chronicling the lives of those involved with the Scottish Rising, Colonial England, the pirates and slave traders of the Carribean, and the American Revolution.

Claire Randall is swept back in time through one of the many "little Stonehenges" that dot Europe and finds herself in Scotland during the mid-1700's. The book follows her adventures as she tries to survive the dangers of life at that time and falls in love in the process. The man she meets there- Jamie Fraser, is the Colonial Era Forrest Gump (sans the slow mind). The series finds Jamie pretty much anywhere that anything historically significant happened. Diana Gabaldon does this so artfully though that it seems completely natural for Jaimie to be everywhere and in every walk of life.

The writing is skillfully executed, often beautiful, sometimes poetic. The books are long and sometimes a little drawn out (think Dickens) but absolutely enjoyable nonetheless. Another thing Gabaldon has in common with Dickens is her extraordinary characterization. Both the detail and the web of interconnections of her characters brought to mind "Great Expectations" (without the boredom). The action is exciting, the time travel is intriguing, the setting is fantastic, and the love story is compelling.

A few words of caution: You won't be finding this series on GoodCleanReads. These books have a lot of foul language in them, particularly the taking of the names of Deity in vain. There is also quite a lot of explicitly detailed sex in these books. (Enough that my mother's local bookstore actually has this book in the Romance section. I disagree with that assessment, BTW.) The sex is not the focus, but it is a facet of the stories which comes up several times. It is, with two exceptions, always between married couples. There are three rapes in the series in addition to those exceptions. Also, there was some pretty brutal torture (including the aforementioned rape) toward the end of the first book which was hard for me to read. Just a word to the wise for those of you survivors out there who prefer not to relive past traumas.

I really liked this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction. I'm not sure it exactly qualifies as something more substantial though, if only because I think the objectionable material may not be edifying unto "the improvement of the mind by extensive reading."

My favorite quote from the series is in this first book: "Overall the library held a hushed exaltation as though the cherished volumes were all singing soundlessly within their covers."

I liked this book less than the first one. The love story gets better, but the political intrigue bored me a little. There is a whole part of the book when Jamie and Claire are in France that I found nearly mind-numbing. Interestingly enough, that part is what my friend loved so much about this book. To each her own, I suppose. I liked the book enough to keep going though and it's worth it to continue the story in the third book.

Voyager takes us to the high seas. Our characters travel to the Indies, visit a slave market, and end up shipwrecked more than once. There are pirates, kidnapping, and danger at every turn.

I had so much fun reading this book. However, I think my enjoyment of it may have been augmented by having read "The True Confession of Charlotte Doyle" and watching the Horatio Hornblower miniseries.

There is a little bit of strange voodoo in the Carribean but it didn't detract from the story in my opinion.

I found Drums of Autumn to have a slow start. Diana Gabaldon introduces some new characters in this book and I found myself impatient to find out more about the characters I was already emotionally invested in. Stick with it, the new characters are every bit as good as the old ones.

The Fiery Cross was my most and least favorite. I loved the American history it chronicles but I felt that it should have been two books. To wit- it felt to me like there was one book that was less interesting sandwiched into the middle of another book that I liked very much. The events leading up to the Revolution begin to take shape in this story. The love stories continue and do not disappoint.

Hmmm. What to say about this one? I love the emotional depth which the romantic relationships have achieved by this point in the story. I found the beginning of the Ameican Revolution fascinating. I found the plot interesting, but I confess it was the same interest one might have after getting sucked into a Prime Time soap opera (inaccurately dubbed "drama"). The plot just had one too many twists for me. It was still a good story but I felt a little exasperated by the Young and the Restless quality it had. I liked the book but I felt it lacked the aspect of realism Gabaldon had achieved so well in the prequels.

I will definitely be reading the next in the series, slated for release this fall. One other thing people may want to know about the books is that they are pretty long. (Between a thousand and 1500 pages.) Don't start one if you won't have time to finish it, because trust me- you'll want to finish it. I think I'm going to have to come up with a third rating option for enjoyable books that are probably not the best things to read. I think I'll call it- Refined Sugar. It's so good but you shouldn't try to subsist on it.

Enchantment by Orson Scott Card

2009-01-28T00:01:00.004-07:00

I was a little impatient with this book. It is a real-life fairy tale set in the present and in the past; in the United States and in Russia; in reality and in fantasy. I grew frustrated with waiting for the setting to be where I wanted it to be; with the characters interacting how I wanted them to act; and for the plot to get to the good part. The ending was thoroughly predictable- not in a lovely fairytale sort of way but in a poorly executed fashion that was glib and cliche. My impatience was probably due in part to the frazzled state of affairs here at the NotQuiteTheBradys household. (I was throwing three kid's birthday parties in three days.) Mostly though, I was simply not very impressed with story. It had so much potential but I just felt Mr. Card was a little off his game when he wrote this one. I would say it was just o.k. so probably you could skip this one.

Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

2009-01-15T00:34:00.004-07:00

I knew I was forgetting one! Lovely Bones is an interesting story because it is told from the point of view of a murder victim. A girl is raped and brutally killed. She then watches all the people in her former life as they struggle to put the pieces of their world back together without her in it. This means that the book focuses on a lot of pain and dysfunction in many various relationships. The afterlife in this book reminded me of the Robin Williams/Cuba Gooding Jr. movie, What Dreams May Come. It was interesting but strange. I thought the book was depressing and I didn't find any uplifting themes at the end. I think I would say skip this one.

Getting Caught Up

2009-01-14T16:07:00.023-07:00

Although it appears I have given up reading, I actually just have not been posting reviews for a while. If you read my other blog you already know that life has been challenging for us these last several months. I am happy to report that things seem to be slowing down and I am getting back into my routines. Here are some of the books I managed to read since you last heard from me.

Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange

I loved this one. It is the Midnight Sun to Pride and Prejudice. I thought Grange nailed Darcy's voice and thoughts. This is the book I was looking for when I read that other one. It is fluff by very gratifying. Can fluff actually be called Something More Substantial?

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

This is a Steel Magnolias-type story set in Manhattan. The problem I had with this book was that the main character was such a closed person that when her crisis finally came, I was not emotionally invested in her enough to care. I didn't dislike the book but mostly felt like it was a waste of my time. Around here time is a precious comodity. If it's not something you have a lot of, I would say skip this one.

Sarah by Orson Scott Card

I absolutely devoured this book. I fell in love with Abraham- maybe because he reminded me so much of my own husband. Sarah was strong, Abraham was kind, and the writing did a magnificent job fleshing out a story for the backbone we are all familiar with. This was my favorite of the Women of Genesis series. It is definitely Something More Substantial.

Rebekah by Orson Scott Card

I didn't like this one nearly as well as Sarah. The writing was every bit as good, but I found Isaac extremely unlikeable. I would prefer to think of him as a better man than he was portrayed as here. The story continues to be good and I would still recommend this book as Something More Substantial.

Rachel and Leah by Orson Scott Card

The third book in an unfinished series, I liked the men of this book better than those in Rebekah but I thought some of the women in this one lacked quite a lot. An arguement can be made for the realism captured in Scott's characterization- we, none of us, are perfect, and there certainly are those among us who shine a little more brightly than the rest. I got into this story more than I did Rebekah but was disappointed a little in the somewhat abrupt ending which left me hanging for the next book. I look forward to the next book with anticipation, but feel a little betrayed by the way this one ended. If you are going to read it I would suggest waiting until the next one in the series is published. Since I don't know how it ends, I give this one a qualified Something More Substantial.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

This is one of those rare instances when I actually liked the movie better than the book. I can't say why exactly. I just think the movie did a good job of covering the story and Kathy Bates and Mary Stewart Masterson bring so much to it. I'd skip this one and rent it instead.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Ooo. I liked this story a lot. It is set in the future in a time when RADICAL plastic surgery is the normal thing to do when you come of age. BUT- what seems like harmless beautification is actually something else altogether sinister and conspiratorial. The book was exciting, easy to read (it is a young adult book) and I enjoyed it very much. I look forward to the next three in the series. Something More Substantial for sure!

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

I thought this was the strangest and most predictable book in the series but it was still good. The name of one of the principal characters was laughable and therefore was irritatingly distracting throughout the entire book. That said, I'm glad I read it. "Substantial" is probably a stretch, but I wouldn't want anyone to skip it so I will say I give it a lukewarm Something More Substantial.

These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner

2008-06-25T13:02:00.006-06:00

I haven't reviewed anything in a while because I've been so busy with my kids home from school for the summer. These Is My Words was first recommended to me by my husband's aunt almost two years ago. Then this January, my sister-in-law borrowed it from the aunt and recommended it as well. I bought the book and put it on my TBR list/A~Z Challenge but had several other books ahead of it in my pile so I put it off. Last week two friends at choir practice were going on and on about it and I decided I couldn't put it off any longer. I came home and the next day I read the book. There is really only one thing I can say:

Dearest Mr. Darcy,

It pains me to have to tell you that I think we need to break up. You and I have had a good run of it and you have always meant a lot to me. I've loved you more than Edward or Jacob. I loved you more than Romeo and Petruchio. Once I had seen the A&E portrayal of you I even loved you more than Gilbert Blithe. But to go on this way would be unfair to you. I've found someone else and now that I know him, you will never again be the literary model of male perfection. I am so sorry to do this in writing but since it is where we first met, I felt it was only fitting. Please know that you will always hold a special place in my heart, but that heart now belongs to the husband of Sarah Agnes Prine.

With love,
Aberjaber

The story is based on the family memoirs of the author and takes place in the late 1800's in the Arizona Territory. It is a heart-warming (sometimes heart-wrenching) tale of a family and the struggles of frontier life. It is exciting, interesting, moving, and filling. I felt like I had a comfortable quilt wrapped around me the entire time I was reading it. Once I finished, I wanted to start at the beginning and read it again. This book is the heart of Something More Substantial.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

2008-06-25T12:45:00.003-06:00

In an "Invasion of the Body-Snatchers"-style story, Meyer takes you on an adventure of survival, danger, and desperation as you follow Wanderer and Melanie- two minds sharing one body. The story is well-told, sometimes slow, yet always compelling. I found myself holding my breath many times throughout the book, waiting to see if they would be captured. Meyer does an excellent job of making the reader feel the emotions of the characters. The issues of ethics, trust, loyalty, and what is right are explored. I liked this book overall in spite of the feeling I got that it was a patchwork of dozens of other science fiction plots I have read or watched over the last 20 years. What the story lacks in originality, it more than makes up for in feeling and suspense. Like the Twilight books, The Host is fluffy brain-candy entertainment, but very enjoyable. With uplifting themes and a cast of characters who all fight for what they believe is right, this book is undeniably Something More Substantial.

The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy by Mary Street

2008-06-25T12:25:00.005-06:00

Let me start by saying that I have always shunned books like these, written about an author's characters after the author's death. It has always seemed to me conceitedly presumptuous to write such a book. That said, when I saw this book on the bargain table at Barnes & Noble, I found it irresistable. The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy is the story of Pride and Prejudice as told from Mr. Darcy's point of view. All I can say is that once again I have been shown that sticking to your principles is always the wisest course of action. I did not think it would be possible to take a story I love and turn it into pure drudgery. The story was choppy, and completely lacked imagination. I was sorely disappointed, particularly at the lack of introspection. Here is a character who clearly is both extremely intelligent and very reserved. This would suggest that he spends a lot of time with his own thoughts. You won't find them in this book. I almost feel like saying it is unnecessary since many of you probably accept this as a no-brainer, but skip this one.

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

2008-04-14T16:44:00.006-06:00

I believe The True Confessions won the Newberry Medal in 1991. I have never felt a book more deserving of that honor. The story examines many themes. Honor, truth, justice, sacrifice, honesty, and the idea that sometimes events change us forever in ways which make it impossible to return to our former lives are a few of these. I LOVED this book. It was exciting, well-written and I couldn't put it down. I read the entire thing in half a day.

The story follows Charlotte, a thirteen year-old girl in the early 19th century, as she makes her way across the Atlantic alone to join her family in America. On the way she encounters dangers, intrigues and adventures which change her outlook on society- and herself- forever. This book is definitely Something More Substantial. READ IT!

Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

2008-04-14T16:19:00.006-06:00

Cry, the Beloved Country is set in post-WWII South Africa during the prelude to Apartheid. The story is about (Stephen) Kumalo, a pastor who witnesses the destruction of the family, the tribe, and the land around him. As Kumalo works to put the pieces of all these things back together, he learns some of the greatest truths in the world: the more civilized we are the less civilized we become, that defending the family is essential to our success as a people, and that forgiveness- the greatest of all gifts- can bring about miracles in the unlikeliest of places.

The story is very sad for the first two-thirds of the book and you should probably skip this one if you are depressed or have a prodigal in your family. If you are fortunate enough not to be in these circumstances however, I definitely think this book is Something More Substantial. The at-times lyrical writing conveys a beautiful overall message and the ideas about family and community are worth pondering for anyone.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

2008-04-07T09:06:00.005-06:00

This novel is a captivating depiction of life as an autisic teenage boy. The story is told through the eyes of the boy as if he is the author of the story. When Christopher John Francis Boone decides to investigate the death of a neighborhood dog, he discovers much more than he sets out to. He sets in motion a series of events that will lead him, not only on an emotional journey, but a journey of great distance as well.

I found this book a fascinating peek into autism and the thought processes of those who have it. It is poignant, thought-provoking, and an easy read. The story doesn't resolve at the end of the book and the book is very sad in some places. Overall, I enjoyed it very much. The book has some profanity in it but most of the characters are, on the whole, good people who you empathize with. I thought this book was Something More Substantial.

Jemima J by Jane Green

2008-03-21T13:45:00.006-06:00

Jemima J is a book about being fat and being thin. Actually, it's about being fat and becoming thin. I didn't feel that the author really had any true idea of what it was like to be fat, just that she was spewing psychobabble she had heard on Oprah or whatever is the British equivalent. I thought that the author tried too hard- especially all the passages centered on fate bringing two people together. The writing was on par with a gifted 10th grader, often tedious/redundant. The plot was ridiculous in places, particularly one part of the book where the author tries really hard to imcorporate the literary technique of irony. This involves a rather nauseating description of "chubby chaser"-porn which I found unnecessary.

The book was difficult to relate to because one of the themes in the story is the emergence of this thing they have now called the "internet". The material being so dated was a little distracting. Maybe in 50 or 60 years that part would be interesting for another generation to read. I found it annoying.

There was a LOT of sex- some of it described in detail, and quite a bit of profanity.

SPOILER:

Jemima J is a Cinderella story and the fat girl gets the prince (but only when she's thin). I didn't like that she loses the weight by becoming simultaneously unhealthily obsessed with exercise and very nearly anorexic. Then, in spite of this, she is able to keep the weight off when she starts eating again. Even though it is a romantic happily ever after, I didn't like the story, the writing, or the people except for the prince and (most of the time-) Jemima.

I would have to say skip this one.

Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin

2008-03-20T00:08:00.009-06:00

Wow. I finished this book a week ago and was at such a loss for what to say about it that I waited a week to write this review in hopes inspiration would come. I am still reeling, trying to construct coherent thoughts about it. Bridging seemingly incongruous ideas which verge on one another so seamlessly that I am stunned by the breathtaking efficiency and precision of it, Mark Helprin strings delicate beads of mismatched colors until suddenly you are holding a rosary of stars and have not the slightest idea with to do with it. I, like most of the other people who've read this book, have absolutely no idea what it is about. I read all 768 pages and when I finished, I had as much understanding of the book as I did the day I first heard of it. And I LOVED IT. What I have to say about it probably won't make sense, but then neither did the book. Just keep in mind that in deciding what to say about Winter's Tale I have had to scour the deepest corners of my mind to pull together language which can somehow express my thoughts about it at all.

Winter's Tale is what you would get if you poured one part each of-

Romeo and Juliet, Brigadoon, Dickens, the Gaya Hypothesis, Monet's paintings of The Houses of Parliament at Sunset, Einstein's Theory of Relativity, Norman Rockwell, Al Capone, Tennyson, the story of the Tower of Babel, Renoir's color palette, Jules Verne, the characterization of The Simpsons, Robert Frost, Rip Van Winkle, Dorothy Gale, Dowdle Folk Art, Narnia, Brahms' lullaby, Sinclair's Jungle, a fieldtrip to the planetarium and Madeline L'Engle's Wrinkle In Time series-

into a vast lakebed and then watched as the many colors twisted in and around one another until, at last, every part had become one and everything was whole, and the whole was a hole through which you could see the universe and it was beautiful. (See? I told you it wasn't going to make sense.)

For me, the book is about a lot of things. It is about juxtapositions. It is about how everything has its opposite; how justice, balance, and restitution are part of the ultimate destiny of this world and how even though they might be anwered on the tenth generation, they still come to pass. It shows that change is the only thing that stays the same. It is about how time does not exist, how Heaven does, and how Heaven cannot be barged into but may be sometimes right around us, here on this very earth and we just don't see it. It's about how we are not alone. We are all somehow connected in ways that we do not see because the magnitude of these connections is so great that they are beyond our notice at all. They are so all-encompassing that they draw the people whose lives are intertwined to specific places- junctions- over and over again. The book shows that once you are a resident of someplace wonderful, you are always a resident there; no matter where you go or how long you are away. It's about how there is a grand design in place, an enormous machine of a thing, and every person and event and location is an integral part of the plan. The machine is constantly in motion and being part of the design gives us purpose.

What I loved most about this book was that it was beautiful. I don't mean that it was all flying horses and starlit nights and scenes of folk art painted in the loveliest shades from Van Gogh's masterpieces, although those things are there too. I mean the writing is beautiful. Not in the flowery and romantic way, but beautiful in the carefully crafted, hand-carved antique jewelry box way. Every sentence so carefully constructed, every word specifically chosen. The language so smooth you want to run your hand across its face and then open it up to see all the wonderful things therein. The kind of beautiful you want to wrap around you and take a nap in on a cloudy day. Perfect in its descriptions of both beauty and horrors, in its balance between the two. Perfect in its timing- the pace seems to pick up and move along faster and faster- as if you are reading in time with a locomotive steaming down the tracks. Perfect in its Dickensesque, dizzyingly complex, interconnection of characters. Perfect in its descriptive landscapes and portraits. A perfect rendering of perfect moments.

For the sake of a thorough review, I add only that there were a couple sex scenes in the book I was a little uncomfortable with. I think I read the f-word twice. I would highly recommend this book to avid readers. It is not for someone who doesn't read much. It's not for anyone who hates New York City. Most of all, it is not for those who find the feelings of muddled and vague comprehension disconcerting or uncomfortable. For everyone else however, it is truly wonderful. I suggest that when you read it, you read it with somebody because you will wish to have someone with whom to discuss it. Don't bother with what Wikipedia has to say about it. I thought that their article was a gross misinterpretation of all the symbolism in the book. It seemed to me the author wanted to pretend he had found the secret decoder ring. I do not believe for even the smallest instant that the author of the Wikipedia article understood the book any better than every other reviewer who came straight out and said, "I have no idea what this book is about."

I give "Winter's Tale" a heartfelt Something More Substantial.

Austenland by Shannon Hale

2008-03-02T15:32:00.007-07:00

I love this one! Austenland is a tale of a woman who can't seem to find a guy to hold on to because none of the men she meets can measure up to Jane Austen's Mr. Darcy (especially as portrayed by Colin Firth). I had a hard time getting into the book. The first couple of chapters didn't exactly grab me. I stuck with it though and I'm glad that I did. Hale does a marvelous job of capturing the flavor of Austen's writing and the essence of Mr. Darcy, all in a modern context. The ending was wonderfully unpredictable and the author manages to write the story in such a way that any of the possible opposing outcomes would be happily accepted by the reader. The book is a wonderful romp through Regency England and an interesting commentary on what life might truly have been like for young women of that period. I recommend this book to lovers of Jane Austen's works- not just Pride and Prejudice, but the rest of her novels as well, and anyone who loves seventeenth century English literature. The book makes frequent reference to Austen's novels and there are also allusions to works from other authors of the time period such as Charlotte and Emily Bronte. In spite of the slow start I give this book a hearty something more substantial.

The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

2008-03-02T14:04:00.010-07:00

The book addresses the idea that each of us has a specific way of expressing love and understanding expressions of love; different "love languages". Often couples do not have the same love language and the result is that although both partners are working hard at showing love to one another, the efforts can often go unnoticed and our need to feel loved is unmet. I thought this book was interesting and I think it would be helpful for people whose relationships are in a difficult patch. I wish that I had read it the second year my husband I were married. I think if I had, a lot of things would have gone a more easily that year, and certain issues would have been resolved much more quickly. Because my marriage is pretty healthy at present however, I didn't find the information in the book very useful in that particular relationship. I did think that the principles I have tried to apply from the book have been somewhat helpful with my children, but I believe that Mr. Chapman has written another book specifically focused on the love languages of children. If improving your understanding of children's needs is what you are seeking, I would probably refer you to that other book.

One more note about this book I would like to make is that the newer edition with the cover pictured here has a love language analysis test to take in the back. The edition I read did not have this. I borrowed a later edition from someone in my book group so my husband and I could take the tests and thought that the tests rendered the information infinitely more useful than just reading the book without them. If you are going to read the book, make sure you get a later edition so you are able to do that exercise. Overall I would rate The Five Love Languages Something More Substantial.

A~Z and TBR Challenges

2008-02-24T23:00:00.007-07:00

I heard it from a friend who

heard it from a friend who

heard it from a friend

You been mess- No wait.

I mean I heard about this challenge to read 52 books in a year, the A~Z Challenge. You choose one book title for each letter of the alphabet and one author for each letter of the alphabet. (No doubling up.) Click here for the official site, or just play along at home. My A~Z picks are toward the bottom of the page on the sidebar. If anyone knows a good book starting with the letter "X", PLEASE let me know!!! Apparently the author of the challenge didn't take the serious shortage of such titles into consideration when she launched her idea.

There is also another challenge called the TBR Challenge which you can do instead of, or combine with, the A~Z Challenge. Combining the two is the approach I have chosen. It seemed to render narrowing down the options much easier for the A~Z Challenge in my opinion. Basically, the TBR Challenge is this:

Pick 12 books - one for each month of 2008 - that you've been wanting to read (that have been on your "To Be Read" list) for 6 months or longer, but haven't gotten around to. Read one book from this list each month in 2008.

I have included my 12 in the A~Z lists. They are:

Austenland by Shannon Hale (A Title)

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (I've been planning to read that since I finished the first three in two days last fall) (B Title)

Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky (C Title)

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (D Title)

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (H Title)

Standing For Something by Gordon B. Hinckley (S Title)

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi (T Title)

Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin (W Title)

Language Shock by Gregory Agar (A Author)

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (C Author)

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (S Author)

Mila 18 by Leon Uris (U Author)

Happy reading!

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

2008-02-24T20:17:00.010-07:00

Northanger Abbey was Jane Austen's first book ever written and last ever published. I believe is was published posthumously and I'm not sure she ever intended for it to be read by an audience (although I have not read anything one way or the other). The book seemed to me to be a study in writing novels. She asked and answered a lot of questions in this book. What makes a heroine or a plot worthy of reading? Which works to take inspiration from, which to completely diverge from? Are novels worthy endeavors? Can one be written about normal people? Will doing so make novels more socially acceptable? Do popular opinions matter on the subject of novels anyway? Jane makes many asides to the audience which I felt were more of a stream of consciousness creative writing exercise than anything else. I especially felt that the book was not intended to be published at the end when she essentially said, "and then they all lived happily ever after, etc., etc. You know all the rest and I can fill it all in later without giving it much thought." It is possible that this was an underdeveloped stylistic choice, especially considering the similar though less abrupt ending of Emma. I think however, that Northanger Abbey was just a practice to help the author decide more precisely on a direction to take her work.

I didn't particularly like this book and I found the asides to the audience on par with political lobbyist soapboxes, of which I am not a fan. I am quite glad I had read a number of other Jane Austens before reading this one. I fear that I would not have picked up any of the much more worthy ones, had I read this one first. I don't think anyone should miss out on Austen but in this case I am going to have to say skip this one, at least until you have read some of her other more wonderful books.

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

2008-02-22T23:11:00.012-07:00

I read this book cover to cover and for the first two days afterwards I couldn't even tell if I liked it or not.

The book is interesting, creative, and well thought out. I was intrigued by the histories, cultures, religion, and politics of the different ethnicities in Maguire's Oz. I particularly appreciated the way their many folktales offered an explanation for the various and incongruous accounts of the events and characters portrayed in the Baum books. I did not like the people of Maguire's Oz, however. I found them to be a morally bankrupt society on an apocalyptic level. The story was fraught with murder, intrigue, and sexual perversions of every sort. I found it offensive on many levels. It also took me a very long time to get into the story.

Elphaba, a.k.a.- the Wicked Witch of the West- goes through most of her life just trying to do what is right in spite of the wicked world in which she lives. She is constantly helping others and receives only the smallest portion of love from others in return. She is a tragic character and you hope that in the end she will go to some afterlife prepared for the inhabitants of Oz. This is not to be however, since there is no "After" for witches. Perhaps this is best, since it is her hope to cease a painful existance.

If this book were a movie, it would receive an "R"-rating at the very least. I understand that the musical is quite family friendly, so if you are interested in hearing the twist on the tale, I would buy tickets to a production and skip this one altogether.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

2008-02-22T16:04:00.010-07:00

The Secret Life of Bees is set in the Civil Rights Era in South Carolina. It's about Lily Owens, a white teenage girl whose mother is killed when she is a child. When her black substitute mother offends a dangerous and racist man, Lily makes the decision to take the woman and escape to a town Lily's mother may have visited in the past. They are taken in by three black women on a honey farm and Lily learns for the first time the meanings of love and family. She courageously faces fear, racism, abuse, and the enigmatic truths about her life. This book has some strange religious themes but I liked the story anyway. It was definitely something more substantial. I would recommend this book to women but probably not to men. It's a little too "Lifetime Original Movie" for a co-ed audience.

First Two Book Reviews

2008-02-07T03:52:00.004-07:00

I posted these first two book reviews on my other blog.

The first was "The Jane Austen Book Club". The short story is that I hated it. For the long story you can go here.

The second was "Love Walked In". Yes it did. I loved this book. Here is my review.

More to come soon!