Why you haven't seen many book reviews lately

Or rawther, any book reviews lately.

The answer is quite simple.

I got burned out on reading.

Here's what happened: When I discovered all of these reading challenges I was so excited, I signed up for as many as I could. I realized not long ago that I bit off a lot more than I could chew. You see the lists of books in my sidebar, that I'm supposedly reading right now? I stopped reading them in mid-August. I simply got fried, and decided to take a break from books. It was becoming like a job for me.

When I was in the middle of the reading challenges, I really enjoyed them. However, as deadlines approached for the ends, I began to feel pressure to complete them. One day I just threw my hands up and said, "Forget it! I don't want to feel pressured to read!" I found myself turning into a reading machine, and I didn't like that.

The demands of my job recently have also made it difficult to find time to open the covers of a book. It's not uncommon for me to work 12-14 hour days. By the time all is said and done at the end of the day, I've been too tired to focus on the written page. Instead of falling asleep to a soothing literary lullaby, I've been falling asleep listening to the drone of the automated voice of the Weather Channel's local forecasts. Puts me to sleep every time. But I digress...

But now, I'm feeling the itch to get back into the bibliogroove. I will always love books, but after signing up for so many challenges, and feeling pressured to complete them, I had to take a break. However, there is some good to come out of this: Thanks to these challenges, I've read genres that I normally would never have read. I participated in posts that I never thought I'd write. It was an enriching experience for me.

Next year, however, I'm only signing up for one or two challenges. Three, at the most. And if I get overzealous again, kittens, please, hold me accountable. Let me know that I'm biting off more than I can chew. Help keep me in line!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney

I've been wanting to read this for a very long time. It's a simple, straightforward title, with a simple, straightforward plot. The cartoons make it a very quick, easy read; I finished it in half an hour.

Greg Heffley is the wimpy kid in question, a middle school student who thinks he ranks #52 in popularity among his classmates. By comparison, he thinks his best friend, Rowley Jefferson, ranks #150. Rowley is very young and immature for his age, and often doesn't "get" many of Greg's jokes--especially when he's the butt of the joke.

Greg lives with parents who could be described as "clueless", at least from his point of view. Dad wants his son to be a man, to bulk up his muscles, and to play outside, as opposed to playing video games all day long. Mom wants her son to be well-rounded and makes him try out for the school play, much to Dad's chagrin.

Additionally, Greg is the middle son. He has to contend with an older brother, Rodrick, a high schooler who fronts a heavy metal band called "Loded Diper." (There is supposed to be an umlaut over the "o"--that's the two little dots that go over a vowel--but I don't know how to type these symbols in Blogger.) He even drives an old van that has "Loded Diper" painted on the side. Greg is embarrassed not only for Rodrick's "awful sounding" band, but more for the fact that their band name is spelled incorrectly.

Greg's little brother, Manny, can do no wrong in his parents' eyes. Greg is responsible for preparing Manny's breakfast every morning. He pours a bowl of cereal for Manny, and then Manny sits in the living room--atop his training potty. Well, imagine what he does with the leftover cereal when he's done. I'll leave it at that.

Much of the novel consists of Greg hanging out with Rowley and the various scrapes that they get into. Many of their schemes involve doing things that could increase their popularity; Greg thinks of most of them, and Rowley follows without thinking. Usually, things work out well--inadvertently--in Rowley's favor, and don't go so well for Greg.

This is a rather cute book, and I can understand why this would appeal to many young readers. It's got many situations and characters that kids can relate to. It's written very simply and clearly, and the cartoons are adorable.

I think of this book as a modern-day Peanuts, and its protagonist as a more sophisticated Charlie Brown. Greg may constantly luck out in many of his schemes, but he never gives up. I am eager to see what his further adventures are in the rest of the Wimpy Kid series. It looks very promising!

This is the latest entry in my 2009 100+ Reading Challenge, my 2009 1st in a Series Challenge, and my 2009 Support Your Local Library Challenge. As always, click on the buttons in the sidebar for all of the archived lists of my reads!

The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart

I don't quite remember exactly how I found this book, kittens. I remember seeing it in a bookstore and was intrigued by its summary, but I don't remember exactly what led me to the young adult section.

I was hooked by the opening sentences of the back cover explanation:

" 'Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?'

"When this peculiar ad appears in the newspaper, dozens of children enroll to take a series of mysterious, mind-bending tests. (And you, dear reader, can test your wits right alongside them."

"This has potential," I thought, "a literary satire on No Child Left Behind, but cleverly disguised in a children's book." I bought it.

There were reviews on the inside of the front cover. I don't like reading the reviews ahead of time, as I sometimes let them influence my reading too much. I don't want to risk being disappointed if I personally dislike the book. However, when critics compared The Mysterious Benedict Society to Harry Potter, Lemony Snicket, and one of my childhood literary heroes, Roald Dahl, it peaked my interest.

I had it on my TBR pile for three months, and last week, decided I couldn't wait any longer.

About a hundred pages in, I could understand the Potter/Snicket/Dahl comparisons. It is very cleverly written, with a very whimsical premise. A man named Mr. Benedict places an ad in the newspaper, seeking children for "special opportunities." The children, and their parents, who seek these "special opportunities", arrive one morning to take a rather complicated test with some rather complicated directions and questions. Only one child, Reynie Muldoon, successfully passes the test--only to find out that he has more tests to take.

For the second round of tests, Reynie meets two more kids who have passed the first test: George "Sticky" Washington, a young man who has encyclopedic knowledge of nearly everything, and Kate Weatherall, a girl who spent years in a traveling circus. They all engage in the next round of tests, which are not of the pencil-and-paper, standardized variety. Rather, these kids have to think about how they need to get themselves out of certain situations, such as going from one end of a room to another without touching certain colored squares.

Reynie, Sticky, and Kate all pass each of the tests, and are joined by a girl named Constance Contraire, who, as her surname suggests, has no regard for authority. In fact, she either failed or refused to follow the rules for any of the tests. The kids are puzzled about the reasons why Constance is joining their group.

In fact, they're all puzzled by why they're together. It turns out that Mr. Benedict has a very specific plan for this quartet: He wants them to be secret agents.

As Mr. Benedict forms his plan, something called "The Emergency" is occurring in their small village of Stonetown. Everything is out of control: the government, school budgets, crime, pollution, and general morale amongst Stonetown's good citizens.

Mr. Benedict believes that a series of subliminal messages are causing the Emergency, and that these messages are being transmitted from a school called The Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened (LIVE). A man named Mr. Curtain is using the students at this school to transmit these subliminal messages that are causing all of the havoc, and Mr. Benedict is sending Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance to LIVE to figure out how to halt the messages.

The four children are enrolled at LIVE, and send daily reports to Mr. Benedict, who lives directly across from LIVE, via Morse code and Kate's flashlight. Mr. Benedict always responds with cryptic messages of his own, and the children work together to figure out exactly what he's trying to say. And you, the reader, can figure out the meaning behind the messages along with the characters.

There are all sorts of clues behind LIVE's existence, as well as the peculiar behavior of its students, and the reader can figure out, along with Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance, how all of these clues fit together.

It's safe to say that this is a very cerebral read. In addition to the puzzles and riddles that the readers and characters have to solve, there are underlying commentaries on government, education, child-rearing, and the media. It's a very layered book--layered because it appeals to both adults and kids alike. Kids will love the book's fantasy, for, among other things, LIVE has many secret passages, tunnels, and is on an island rumored to be guarded by sharks. There are also quite a few action scenes that kids will appreciate.

In addition to the fantasy and the commentary, The Mysterious Benedict Society is a book about friendship, and how four diverse personalities can get along to fulfill a mission. Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance not only have an incredible loyalty to Mr. Benedict, but to each other--probably because they are all orphans. Each one of them is seeking a missing parental figure in their lives. Reynie, before his involvement with Mr. Benedict, lived at the Stonetown Orphanage and was bullied by the other orphans. Sticky ran away from his parents. Kate's mother died when she was a baby, and her father left her. The whereabouts of Constance's parents are unknown, although Mr. Benedict mentions that she once lived by herself in the public library.

There are many details to remember in The Mysterious Benedict Society, and at times it's hard to figure them all out. But Trenton Lee Stewart, a first-time author, does an incredible job of weaving all of them together. This is a book that you can easily get into, and before you realize it, you've read a hundred pages or more in a sitting. He has a unique way of getting the reader hooked into the story, and you get intrigued very easily. Almost every chapter ends in a cliffhanger, and you'll want to keep turning the pages to find out what happens next.

I was really disappointed when the book came to an end, but I'm not fretting too much. There is a sequel, and a third book is being published in October. And you can bet that you'll see reviews of both of these books here on the blog, coming very soon.

By the way, here are some links that you may be interested in, if you want to know more about The Mysterious Benedict Society:

• The official website of the Mysterious Benedict Society
• An interview with author Trenton Lee Stewart
• An excellent review from the book blog Vulpes Libris
  

This is the latest entry in my 2009 100+ Reading Challenge, my 2009 1st in a Series Challenge, and my 2009 Read Your Own Books Challenge. As always, click on the buttons in the sidebar for archived lists of all of my challenges!

Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet, by Xinran

The last time I was at the library I went for the sole purpose of filling the gaps in on my A to Z Challenge and my Dewey Decimal Challenge. I knew that the letter "X" would be difficult, if not, impossible, to find in my library, but I kept my fingers crossed that I would find something.

So I found this book. It was the only X on the shelf.

I borrowed it, and hoped fervently that it would be a good read.

My hopes came true.

It is a very quick read; a little over 200 pages, and the pages themselves are small. But that's not what makes this a quick read. Sky Burial is a tale of genuine, true love, and, what's even more remarkable, is based on a true story.

In 1994, Xinran, a Chinese journalist, received a phone call from a listener on her nightly radio program. He had just met a woman in the street named Shu Wen. They were buying rice soup from a street vendor, and he had learned that this woman had just returned to China from Tibet after a stay of more than 30 years. The listener thought that Xinran should interview Shu Wen, and before the phone call ended, gave her Wen's contact information.

Xinran traveled for four hours to meet Shu Wen and spent two days with her. On the third day, she learned that Wen had left the hotel. Inspired by her story, Xinran wrote this book, an account of Shu Wen's long search for her husband.

This story begins in the mid 1950s, shortly after the Communists took control of the Chinese government. Wen was twenty-two when she met her husband, Kejun, in medical school. They married four years later. Shortly after their wedding, Kejun was sent to Tibet as a surgeon with the Chinese army. This was during the beginning years of the Chinese-Tibet conflict, and you can click here to learn more about it.

A few months after their wedding, Wen receives the following letter from the Suzhou Military Office (p. 11):

Death Notice
This is to certify that Comrade Wang Kejun died in an incident in the east of Tibet on 24 March 1958, aged 29.

No further details were given about Kejun's death. Suspicious, Wen wants to find out exactly how her husband died--or learn if he is really dead. She decided to head to Tibet to look for him or his militia unit.

What follows is an incredible story driven by the power of love, determination, and hard work. Wen meets another woman, Zhuoma, who is also searching for a lost love. The two women eventually join up with a nomadic Tibetan family, and live with them for many years. At one point, Zhuoma is kidnapped, and the story turns into the search for two people to whom Wen was extremely close--her husband, and a woman much like a sister.

The book eventually turns into a story about cultural identity. As the years progress, Wen wonders if she is really Chinese or Tibetan. Whenever she meets Chinese people in Tibet, she wonders if she remembers the language, the customs, and the traditions of her people. She has been in Tibet for so long that she is starting to consider herself to be Tibetan. What should she consider herself once she returns to her native land?

The story, sadly, ends abruptly. Xinran learns that Wen has checked out of her hotel, without leaving any information as to where she was going. Wen had just returned to China, but wasn't clear as to what her plans were. One of the reasons that Xinran wrote the book was to find Shu Wen, and listen to the rest of the story.

This was one of the most compelling true life stories I've read in a long time. Sky Burial is not so much a love story as it is a tale of friendship and loyalty between two distinct cultures. Xinran writes very simply, but its themes run much deeper. I really hope that there is an epilogue to this tale, and we learn more about Shu Wen's fate after her chance meeting with Xinran's listener.

This is the latest entry in my 2009 100+ Reading Challenge, my 2009 Support Your Local Library Challenge, and my 2009 A to Z Challenge. Make sure you click on the buttons in the sidebar to review archived lists of all past reads!

New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer

I had to take a break from reading the Twilight series in order to fulfill some book club and reading challenge obligations, so I picked up New Moon the first chance I got.

And I have to say, I had a really hard time getting into it.

In the first fifty pages, Bella turns 18, has a birthday party at the Cullens', and then something happens at said party that causes them to leave the town of Forks. Bella is absolutely devastated that her Edward had to leave, and is in a catatonic state for a long time. She finally starts to snap out of it once she starts spending time with Jacob Black, the son of an old friend of her father's.

Bella starts spending time with Jacob because she believes that she needs to do something rebellious in order to help her get over Edward. She sees that a neighbor is giving away a couple of old motorcycles and decides to obtain them. She meets up with Jacob, and the two make a deal: he'll restore the bikes for free, as well as give her riding lessons, in exchange for her bankrolling the restoration costs.

As he restores the bikes, Bella's friendship with Jacob deepens, and she starts to heal. Yet one day Jacob stops returning her calls and is reluctant to spend time with her. Bella confronts him, and Jacob reminds her of a story that he once told her about his ancestors. Long story short, Bella figures out that Jacob is a werewolf--and learns that he is a member of a pack that lives on his reservation.

Werewolves are also natural enemies of vampires. There is, please pardon the expression, bad blood between the Cullens and the Blacks.

In the meantime, Bella soon learns that she is being hunted by another vampire--Victoria, mate of James, who--SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT YET READ TWILIGHT--witnessed James' death at Edward's hands during Twilight's climax. And now Victoria is out for revenge.

Additionally, something else happens to Bella that prompts the Cullens to return to her life. I won't tell you what it is, but if you've read Twilight, you know that the consequences are rather complicated.

I'm really glad I was able to finish New Moon, because I really didn't like the first 100 pages. I thought Bella was just very whiny and was harping too much over Edward's loss. The novel picks up once she realizes that Jacob is a werewolf, and after Victoria re-enters the picture. New Moon, I believe, is the book that sets in place the crucial plot elements for Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. I haven't started Eclipse yet, but I am intrigued and eager to see what happens.

Finally, thanks to all of those who kept encouraging me to keep plugging at this one. I'll be honest with you: I almost gave up. I'm glad I stuck with it.

This is the latest entry in my 2009 100+ Reading Challenge, my 2009 Read Your Own Books Challenge, and my 2009 2nds Challenge. As always, click on the buttons in the right sidebar for all of my archived lists!

The Big House: A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home, by George Howe Colt

We're gonna start this post "Kitten Confessions" style:

My name is Kitten, and I am a New Englander who has never visited Cape Cod.

That's like saying you're from Jersey and you've never been to the Jersey Shore.

Why have I never been to the Cape? It's simple: I am the spawn of a Westchester County-born-and-raised mother and an Elizabeth, New Jersey-born-and-raised father. Cape Cod is simply not in my DNA. We're Jersey Shore people. We vacationed on Long Beach Island when I was a child.

That having been said, I have had numerous people over the years look at me quizzically and in a state of disbelief when I tell them that I have never once set foot on the Cape.

"How could you live in Connecticut your whole life and never have been to the Cape?"

"What do you mean, you've never been to the Cape?"

"I've got to take you to the Cape with me next summer, Kitten!"

Well, it looks rawther unlikely that I'll make it up to the Cape this summer. But at least I can go in my imagination. That's why I decided to add The Big House to my Summer Vacation Reading Challenge.

The Cape is known for having elaborate summer homes that have been in families for generations. Unfortunately, due to the increased price of real estate over the years (but not so much in this economic downturn), and the costs of maintaining such houses, many families have been forced to sell their beloved vacation homes. That's the dilemma George Howe Colt, his siblings, and other extended family members are facing as they spend one last summer in their beloved Big House.

This memoir is very, very dense with detail, and at times, especially in Part One, it's difficult to keep track. Colt does an excellent job tracing his family tree back to his great-grandparents, who first purchased the land on the Cape. As he details his genealogy, he chronicles a very extensive history of life on the Cape: who settled there, why they settled there, and their demographics. It is a very WASP-y portrait of those who first settled there: upper class Bostonians who rarely ever married outside of the city.

As the book progresses, Colt writes about the innocent memories of childhood: the Big House's extensive collection of books, sailing races in Buzzards Bay, and playing Sardines (a variation of Hide and Seek) with his brothers and cousins. These were the memories that I best identified with, as I have similar ones from my years of vacationing on LBI.

But not all of the Big House memories are pleasant. Colt writes about his grandmother's mental illness, her extended stays at psychiatric hospitals, and the effects that this had when she came back to the Big House to stay with other family members. There is also the story of his aunt, Sandy, who was dying of leukemia and wished to spend her final days at the Big House--only to succumb shortly before she was to arrive there. Finally, among other tales, Colt writes about his own rebellious adolescence, how he wanted to disassociate from anything related to his Bostonian, Harvard-educated heritage, especially his father, an alcoholic who was having an affair.

This may seem like a fractured tale, but The Big House is really a tale of healing. Slowly, the family starts to repair its relationships. However, as the healing continues, Colt and his extended family realize that maintaining the Big House is getting too expensive for everyone involved, so they make the decision to sell it. The question is, who will earn the winning bid? Will it be a family member who will take care of the estate, or someone outside, who may tear down the house and subdivide the land?

This was a difficult book for me because I know very little about the Cape. Colt makes many geographical and historical references that were very hard for me to relate to. I had better luck relating to the accounts of family memories, which came in the second part of the book. That was much easier for me to read and get through.

One other big problem with this book was that it is written in narrative form; there is very little dialogue. I often have difficulty reading straight narratives, especially when they have as much detail as this one does. I had to re-read some passages a few times in order to get all of the facts straight; I'm not sure how well I succeeded.

Overall, The Big House really was a good book when Colt wrote personal accounts about his family and his memories of the Big House itself. If you can get past all of the historical detail in the first part it isn't such a bad little book.

This is the latest entry in my 2009 Summer Vacation Challenge. I know that one of the books can't cross over into other challenges, but how can I not count this as a book I've read? Aw, the hell with it, I'm adding it to my 2009 100+ Reading Challenge. How could I not?

And don't forget to check my archived lists when you get a chance!

No! I Don't Want to Join a Book Club: Diary of a 60th Year, by Virginia Ironside

I'll be honest: I borrowed this book from the library because I learned that I didn't have an "I" author in my A to Z Challenge. In fact, the last trip to the library was to fill in some gaps for my Library Challenge, my Dewey Decimal Challenge, and the aforementioned A to Z Challenge.

For me, the title of a book really piques my interest, and this title was no exception. I am a member of two book clubs, so of course my eyes perked up when I saw the writing on the spine.

I borrowed it without reading the flap on the dust jacket.

I read it, and...well, it was all right, but it's not a book I would rave about.

The main reason I don't rave about it is simply that I had trouble relating to the material. The subtitle of this work is Diary of a 60th Year. I am a long way from being 60. I don't have to worry about menopause or memory lapses, and I don't get discounts for being older--yet. My time will come, but not for awhile.

Anyway, if I were to summarize this book in one sentence, I'd say this: "Bridget Jones enters middle age." That's what I was thinking about fifty pages in. Marie Sharp, the 60-year-old at the center of this work, does not want to become, in her eyes, the stereotypical 60-year-old who takes Italian classes and joins a book club. She doesn't see the point; she just wants to age gracefully and do her own thing, and where the heck is she going to use her Italian?

There is a wealth of emotions in here, though, and the characters are very real. All of them have different experiences and opinions about what it's like to be older. Penny, Marie's best friend, is desperate to find a man. So desperate she'll date anyone she meets through an online dating service. And I do mean anyone. Penny also adds comic relief because she is a hypochondriac. She keeps many health books in her flat, and is always phoning Marie in fear that she has some disease which she self-diagnosed.

Hughie is another close friend of Marie's. He lives with James, his partner of twenty years. Hughie is diagnosed with lung cancer, and Marie's entries chronicle her grief and sadness as she watches her friend's illness progress. This was the most painful part of the novel for me.

Archie is Marie's first love. His wife, Philippa, recently died of cancer. He and Marie get together several times throughout the book, and Marie's entries hint at a possible romance.

Finally, there are Jack and Chrissie, Marie's son and daughter-in-law. They have just become parents to a son, Gene. Marie is in unabashed love with her grandson. It's very touching to read her accounts of the affection she feels for him.

I wrote earlier that this book is like reading something that Bridget Jones would write if she were 60. I say this because Marie drops hints at a very wild, Bridget-like past. I won't say much about it, but let's just say that Marie had a lot of fun in the 1960s. And she doesn't regret it--well, most parts she doesn't regret.

OK, earlier I wrote that I had trouble relating to the book because I wasn't a 60-year-old. But now that I've written about it I realize that I related to a lot more than I originally had thought. This is not a book that I would want to add to my personal library in the future, but it's a light, enjoyable read, good for if you want to take a break from some heavy-duty reading. This won't become a classic like any of the Bridget Jones novels, but it is a pleasant enough read, just the same.

This is the latest entry in my 2009 100+ Reading Challenge, my 2009 Support Your Local Library Challenge, and my 2009 A to Z Challenge. Make sure you click on the buttons in the right sidebar for all of the archived lists of my reads!

The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger

I need to thank the lovely Jenners for introducing me to this book. I read her review here and became obsessed with finding it. This was well before I learned about the movie.

This is going to be the movie/book comparison entry for the Take a Chance Challenge. I know the rules say to see the movie within a few days of reading the book, but the movie isn't being released until August 14th and this book was so good I couldn't put it down.

How good is this book, you ask? It's among my top five books for the year, and it's safe to say I'd rank it as one of the best books I've ever read.

Henry DeTamble and Clare Abshire share a very romantic, yet very unconventional, love affair. Clare meets Henry in the meadow of her house when she is six, and soon learns that Henry, who is 36, is the man she will eventually marry.

How is this possible? Henry is a time traveler. He is a CDP--a Chrono-Displaced Person. He has no control over when and where he time travels. He visits Clare at various stages of her childhood and adolescence, but is never the same age when he visits. Sometimes he's in his thirties, other times he's in his forties. Clare, however, ages naturally, in real-time.

The romance between a time-traveling man and a woman who grows up in real time has its share of obstacles. Clare waits very patiently for Henry, and rarely dates in high school and college. Those around her can't understand why, and Clare, of course, can't explain that she's waiting for a man that will eventually appear out of nowhere. And how does Clare explain to her family and friends Henry's unique ability?

It's difficult for me to summarize this book for several reasons. First of all, it goes back and forth between flashbacks and the present day. You really have to pay attention to the dates in each chapter as Niffenegger tells the story. It's also told from two different perspectives, Clare's and Henry's. They alternate the narration in each chapter. Finally, there are plot elements from the past that indicate what will happen in the future, but you won't know about it until something crucial happens. Trust me on this one.

Overall, however, it is a very, very well-written book, and you can really feel the deep connection that Clare and Henry share. It's very rare that a book moves me to tears, but this one succeeded.

The most amazing part for me, though, was that this was Audrey Niffenegger's first book. It is just so well-crafted, so imaginative, and so thoughtful. She is incredibly detail-oriented; her characters, even the minor ones, are so rich with personality and emotion.

The Time Traveler's Wife is a book that will stay with you for a very, very long time after you've finished it. I simply cannot articulate how much I loved this book.

(I just hope that the movie is as good; I don't want to be disappointed.)

This is the latest entry in my 2009 100+ Reading Challenge, my 2009 Read Your Own Books Challenge, and my 2009 Chunkster Challenge. Click on the buttons in the right sidebar for archived lists of all of my reading challenges!

Requiem for a Paper Bag: Celebrities and Civilians Tell Stories of the Best Lost, Tossed, and Found Items from Around the World, ed. by Davy Rothbart

The title of this book is so long I had to abbreviate the word "edited" in the title of the post. If you want to read the story about how I "found" this book, click here.

This is the book that introduced me to Found magazine, which is a publication devoted to stories, both fictional and nonfictional, of items that people randomly find--on the streets, in garbage cans, in the pages of a random book, wherever. Click here to go to the official website of Found Magazine.

And in a weird coincidence, Jenners commented that she has two books called "FOUND," which she says are photos of items that people have found in different places. The back of the book lists two such anthologies, and I think these are the very same ones that Jenners owns.

Requiem for a Paper Bag is an anthology that features such contributors as Seth Rogen, Andy Samberg, Dave Eggers, Chuck D, and Damon Wayans. There are also many lesser-known authors, musicians, and celebrities adding their tales to this book. Each short story is unique and recalls different experiences, some real, others created, but all of them based on objects that the authors found.

For example, one reader of Found Magazine found a report from the Michigan Employment Security Commission, which denies a man's unemployment claim based on such incidents as "set fire to reports...wrote abscene (sic) graffiti on the paper work...pouring ammonia on dry ice in the back room which caused the dry ice to explode." (p. 152) Writer Nelly Reifler took this report and created a hilarious backstory as to what really happened at the office that led the Michigan Employment Security Commission to deny the claim.

Comedian Patton Oswalt contributes a story of how he found a wallet in Sherman Oaks, and decides to do the noble thing by contacting the wallet's owner...and how the owner put his own little spin on what happened.

Andy Samberg tells the story of how he once found $5,000 extra dollars in his bank account one day, and the back-and-forth inner dialogue as to whether or not he should notify the bank of the error.

The best stories in the anthology, however, stem from random notes that readers have found along the way. Take this note, for instance:

Dear Alex,
If you don't give me your brain right now then bring $20 to the front desk Now!!! don't include the Police.

It's always interesting to use your imagination to figure out who wrote such notes, and why they did. In the case of this note, Aimee Bender, a creative writing teacher at the University of Southern California, writes the backstory that details the circumstances behind this note. It's surreal, clever, and very funny.

Other such notes make the contributors reflect on past instances in their lives. Tom Robbins, author of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, writes a story inspired by a marriage proposal written on a piece of paper doctors use for prescribing medicine. He recalls how he married a woman that he barely knew for one night; she proposed, he accepted, and they were very quickly wed.

I really enjoy quirky stories, and Requiem for a Paper Bag is full of them. I never thought much about the backstories behind random items I find on the street, but this book has got me thinking about what the stories are behind these objects. This sounds like a good prompt for a future Writers Workshop: "Write about an item you found randomly." I think I'll post about that sometime...but I have to find the right random object first.

This is the latest entry in my 2009 100+ Reading Challenge, my 2009 Read Your Own Books Challenge, as well as my 2009 Take a Chance Challenge. As always, click the buttons in the sidebar on the right for archived lists of all of my reads!

Rise and Shine, by Anna Quindlen

This book had all of the plot lines, twists, and turns of a very bad Lifetime Original Movie. It was very quick to read, but very far-fetched. Then again, I probably just wanted to get it done as soon as possible.

Meghan Fitzmaurice is the successful host of Rise and Shine, the most popular show on daytime television. She is one of those stereotypical women-who-has-it-all: successful career, spacious New York apartment, rich, successful husband, son in an Ivy League school.

By contrast, Meghan's younger sister, Bridget, works in a battered-woman's shelter as a social worker. She, too, has a successful career, and is dating a man that she loves, but can't escape the feeling that she's living in Meghan's shadow.

Meghan's seemingly perfect world crumbles one day as she, on live TV, mutters a profanity, which is then broadcast uncensored. She doesn't realize that the mike is on.

And so begins the downfall of the host of Rise and Shine. Prior to this incident, her husband, Evan, announces that he is leaving her, but doesn't give a specific reason. He moves out of the apartment that he shares with Meghan, and eventually, Meghan moves out herself, and runs away to Jamaica for an extended vacation. Evan goes to Tokyo. Their son, Leo, is in Spain and has no idea what's going on--even though his mother is on the cover of every tabloid known to man.

Meanwhile, Bridget remains in New York, trying to clean up the mess and figuring out how to tell her nephew all that has happened. She becomes the messenger gal for Meghan, Evan, Leo, and network executives. Talk about being caught in the middle. Meanwhile, she's trying to juggle her own set of issues, starting with her boyfriend, Irving, a cop twenty-three years her senior, as well as the lives of her clients at the shelter.

Sometimes I get comments from readers about the "Currently Reading" buttons in the sidebar. These comments range from, "I'm so excited that you're reading this!" to "I hated that book!" Rise and Shine falls in the latter range of this spectrum. It is not particularly memorable, nor is it particularly well-written. I'm really glad that I borrowed this book from the library; if I had bought it I would have asked for my money back.

This is the latest entry in my 2009 100+ Reading Challenge, my 2009 Support Your Local Library Challenge, as well as my 2009 A to Z Challenge. As always, click on the buttons in the sidebar for all of the archived lists!

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, by Lisa See

I had a number of readers tell me how much they loved this book. They added that it was one of those works that stays with you long after you've finished it. I must echo their sentiments, for this lovely work has lingered in my thoughts two days after I finished it.

Lisa See, the author, put in an extensive amount of research and care into this work. It is not just a work about the relationship between two young 19th century Chinese girls, but a fascinating look into Chinese culture of that era. It was absolutely fascinating to learn about such things as the treatment of women in society, how marriages were arranged, and the importance and symbolism of footbinding.

Wikipedia has an excellent page on footbinding, which you can read by clicking here. NPR also broadcast an excellent report on the eldest survivors of footbinding, which you can find by clicking here. I need to warn you, though, some of the descriptions of footbinding are graphic, and not necessarily for the faint of heart. Google Images has some photos of bound feet, but I have chosen not to put them on here out of respect for those who may be uncomfortable looking at such pictures.

That having been said, the novel opens with the main character, Lily, describe her preparations for her feet to be bound. A diviner and a matchmaker arrive at her house to meet her and start to arrange for her marriage prospects. Lily is seven years old.

The matchmaker, Madame Wang, determines that Lily is an excellent candidate for a laotong relationship. A laotong relationship exists between two girls from different villages and lasts their entire lives. This is not the same as a sworn sisterhood in Chinese culture, which are made up of several girls and last until one of the sisters marries. According to this article, "These relationships were based not only on proximity, but also upon auspicious astrology, numerology and even matching the size and shape of the young “sisters” feet. They would go to festivals together, and were often closer to one another than to their blood-related sisters."

Lily is matched with a young woman named Snow Flower, who sends her first letter on a silk fan. The letter is written in a secret language called nu shu, which Chinese women created so that men, who were the ones who were taught how to read and write traditional characters, would not be able to decipher it. Snow Flower eventually meets Lily at her home, and visits frequently over the years. The two girls grow into womanhood, and learn how to embroider, cook, and write together.

Snow Flower lives in a village called Tongkou. This is where Lily will live once she is married; Snow Flower has been arranged to marry a man in a different village, and the two women will not live in the same village together. Although Snow Flower has visited Lily's home many times, Lily has not visited Snow Flower's. Madame Wang, the matchmaker, says that the reason for this is that it would not be wise for Lily to see her future husband before her wedding day, even though she won't meet him until then.

However, one day Lily decides to pay a visit to Snow Flower's home. I won't reveal all of the details of this visit, but Lily discovers that Snow Flower has not been truthful about her background. This instills in Lily a sense of mistrust in her laotong. How will she know if Snow Flower is truthful in the future?

Snow Flower begs Lily for her forgiveness, and the two women marry and start families. As Lily bears her children and serves her husband and in-laws, Snow Flower struggles in hers. The two women remain faithful to each other, sending messages on handkerchiefs as well as on their special fan, but their destinies are turning out to be much different than they ever expected. Lily's sense of mistrust deepens, but Snow Flower can't understand what has happened to create the tension existing in their relationship.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a compelling story about the relationship between two women who promised to be lifelong friends and sisters, and what happens when misunderstandings occur. This is a book that every woman can relate to; I'm sure every woman has had relationships with female friends that have had their share of conflict and misunderstanding. Sometimes conflict with our friends is so much more painful than what we may experience with family members.

For me, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan was just as much a tome about Chinese culture as it was about the unique relationship between Lily and Snow Flower. I learned a lot of history, but it was the lessons of the heart that the two women learned that will stay with me.

This is the latest entry in my 2009 100+ Reading Challenge, my 2009 Read Your Own Books Challenge, as well as my 2009 Summer Vacation Challenge. As always, click the buttons in the sidebar to read all of the archived lists!

The Future Homemakers of America, by Laurie Graham

This book was the random book selection in Jenners' wonderful Take a Chance Challenge. Here were the rules for this particular task:

Go to the library. Position yourself in a section such as Fiction, Non-Fiction, Mystery, Children (whatever section you want). Then write down random directions for yourself (for example, third row, second shelf, fifth book from right). Follow your directions and see what book you find. Check that book out of the library, read it and then write about it. (If you prefer, you can do the same at a bookstore and buy the book!)

So I went to the library and wrote some directions for myself. I hope I remember what they were, but here goes:

"Fiction section, middle row, fourth shelf down, tenth book in."

Found myself in the Gs. I picked one book, but saw another one with a title that looked intriguing, so I thought, "What the hell? I'll read this one instead."

Kittens, I still feel that this was a random book selection! I didn't specifically search for this title!

So I borrowed this from la bibliotheque.

I took it home, and finished it in one setting.

This book spans about thirty years. It starts off in England, in 1952, with the death of King George VI. Peggy Dewey's husband, Vern is stationed at the Air Force base in Norfolk, and is raising their young daughter, Crystal. She has made friends with a few other Air Force wives:

• Betty Gillis, a mother of two young daughters, who has become the model of the perfect housewife, decorating her little abode and constantly making dinners and dresses. She and Peggy are old high school friends. They really weren't friends in high school, though, since they had different interests at the time: Peggy was captain of the softball team, and Betty was an active member of the Future Homemakers of America.
  
• Lois Moon is married to Herb, has a daughter named Sandie, and is not a very good housekeeper. She is known for her salty language and partying ways. She is known for her red hair and is always looking to socialize and have a good time. Lois is the comic relief of the group; at one point, one of the wives refers to her as the "Lois Moon Experience."
• Audrey Redman is married to Lance, who is advancing very quickly in the Air Force. He eventually becomes Captain Redman. Audrey then becomes the model of the perfect military wife, becoming active in the Wives' Club and organizing many events for the families.
• Gayle Jackson is the youngest in the group. She has recently married Okey, who is on her first assignment. She is obsessed with having a baby, but has also been hiding a drinking problem.

After the death of King George VI, Peggy, Lois, Betty, and Audrey drive off-base to see if they can see the king's funeral train. There they meet an Englishwoman named Kath Pharaoh, and they quickly become friends.

The whole book does not exclusively take place in England, or in the military. Throughout the years, the families receive new assignments and are stationed elsewhere. Some end up leaving the armed forces. There are a few births, deaths, career changes, marriages, and divorces. But what remains at the novel's core is the enduring friendship among these six women. Peggy is the central character; she narrates the story.

Throughout this book, the word "homemaker" keeps coming up. Each of the six women have different conceptions of what it means to actually be a homemaker. For Betty, it's staying home, raising her girls, and cooking and decorating. For Audrey, it's becoming an active military wife and assisting fellow Air Force spouses. For Lois and Peggy, it's trying to find a career--and an identity--separate from being an Air Force wife.

All six of the women portrayed in the novel face very different struggles as the years progress. Betty's home life is not as perfect as she lets the world see. Lois is determined to carve a life and career for herself. Gayle becomes a widow, and has difficulty setting up a life for herself as a single woman. Kath becomes a successful businesswoman, but almost ends up losing everything.

For a random book selection, this was excellent! I really enjoyed reading it! The chapters are all very brief, and Laurie Graham keeps the plot moving at a quick pace. You feel as if you're the seventh girlfriend in this little group of friends. She writes as if she's having a conversation with you.

This was an excellent book for reading on the beach, or on any lazy Sunday afternoon, especially when you've got a huge pitcher of iced tea--that's my experience with it!

In addition to this being the latest addition in my Take a Chance Challenge, this is also the latest edition in my 2009 100+ Reading Challenge and my 2009 Support Your Local Library Challenge. As always, click on the buttons in the right sidebar for all of the archived lists of my challenges!

Beginner's Greek, by James Collins

Plot summary for Beginner's Greek: Boy meets girl on airplane. Girl gives boy her digits. Boy loses girl's digits. Boy loses girl. Girl marries boy's best friend a few years later. Boy gives up all hope of getting together with girl and marries another woman.

So far, sounds like a romantic comedy. A pair of star-crossed lovers, fated to be together, but they aren't. Will they ever have a second chance at love?

I know, I know, we've all heard of this same old story in many different variations. But Beginner's Greek takes the classic boy meets girl story and adds several layers of sophistication.

For example, Collins likes to focus not only on his protagonists, Peter and Holly, but his secondary characters, particularly their love stories. At the beginning of the novel, he writes about Peter's boss, Arthur, who was completely distraught after his wife died of cancer at a young age, and vowed never to marry again. He writes about Peter's stepmother in law, and how her parents' divorce and subsequent re-marriages affected her view on love.

All of the descriptions of the secondary characters' experiences may seem trivial at first, but they play an important part of the novel as it progresses. And that's what makes Beginner's Greek so intriguing. How do the parts of this puzzle fit together? Why is Collins telling us all of these stories? Do they affect the core essence of the story, which is about Peter and Holly falling in love?

There are so many themes in this book, but the primary ones deal with love. What is love? Is there such a thing as love at first sight? Can people get second chances at love?

I really enjoyed this book. Collins kept me in suspense as I read it; I really wanted to find out if Peter and Holly were really going to get together, and I kept reading as fast as I could to find out what roadblocks would be thrown at them. The subplots helped out too; the whole time I kept thinking, "Why is he writing about this?" As the novel progresses, it's neat to see how everything weaves together.

If you're looking for a twist on the traditional boy-meets-girl story, you won't be disappointed in Beginner's Greek. Be prepared, though, to sit for a while as you read each chapter, as they're 30 pages long on average. But trust me, it's all worth it.

This is the latest entry in my 2009 100+ Reading Challenge, as well as my 2009 Read Your Own Books Challenge. As always, click on the buttons in the sidebars for all of the archived lists!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

This meme is brought to you by the lovely J.Kaye. Click here if ya wanna participate.

So what am I reading right now? Let's see...

Beginner's Greek: I'm on page 265 of 441 pages. I should be able to finish this week; it's going to be a busy week, so I don't know how much time I'll have for reading. It's had a lot of interesting plot twists. I really can't wait to finish this one!

Rise and Shine: This is not a book I'd normally choose, but it's for my A to Z Challenge, and I needed an author with a Q name--Anna Quindlen.

The Future Homemakers of America: I'm reading this for my Take a Chance Challenge. I'll let you know which task it was for when I post the review.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: This one's for my Summer Vacation Challenge.

And that's what I am reading right now! What are y'all reading, kittens?

Holly's Inbox, by Holly Denham

Don't let the length of this book intimidate you. At 668 pages, yes, it qualifies as a chunkster, but since it is written entirely in E-mails, it goes by quickly. Very quickly. And there are so many delicious plot lines, it's hard to put down.

Holly Denham has a new job as a receptionist at a large bank in London. She has a lot to deal with during her first week on the job: a co-worker who doesn't seem to care for her, a bitchy PA, and a colleague who went to school with her, who seems to know something devious in Holly's past--but she's not letting on. Yet.

And that's just at work. Holly also sends lots of E-mails out to her best friends, Jason and Aisha. Jason works at a hotel where Holly was once a receptionist. Aisha has a rawther complicated love life and constantly looks to Holly for advice.

Then there's Holly's family, who all have moved to Spain. Mum keeps meddling in Holly's affairs, much to Holly's chagrin. Charlie, her brother and the only family member remaining in England, is trying to start a nightclub--a different sort of nightclub. Elderly Granny has just discovered the wonders of the Internet, and has started to sign Holly up for various different websites.

Holly's life does get rawther interesting juggling all of these kooky correspondences throughout the day. But the most interesting tidbits are reserved for Holly herself--and we find out about them through random E-mails from people other than her friends. Let's just say that the phrase "Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when we first practice to deceive" is an appropriate description for Holly's character. Eventually, her lies--and her past--catch up to her. The untruths build the novel up to an interesting climax and finale, where Holly promises that "she'll be back."

This was delightful reading for me. It was quick, cheeky, humorous, and just plain dishy. I loved it, especially as it progressed. I loved learning little details that one might dismiss as unimportant, but then they crop up again later in the novel, and one sees how the pieces of the puzzle fit together.

Serena over at Savvy Verse and Wit had the author contribute a guest post. You can read that post by clicking here. Holly's Inbox has an interesting backstory; it actually started off as a website, which you can find by clicking here. And there's more to it, but I'll leave it to the author to explain what it is.

I won't tell you much about the ending, but it does leave room for a sequel. I hope it happens!

This is the latest entry in my 2009 100+ Reading Challenge, my 2009 Read Your Own Books Challenge, and my 2009 Chunkster Challenge. As always, click on the buttons in the right sidebar for archived lists of all of my reads!

Jo's Boys, by Louisa May Alcott

OK, I finished this at 11 PM last night, but I was so tired that I wasn't about to stay up till 1:30 again writing a blog post on a book I just finished. I still remember a lot of the details, so here it is.

Jo's Boys is the final book in the Little Women trilogy, and primarily follows the lives and adventures of the boys that were portrayed in Little Men. The novel starts ten years after Little Men ended. Plumfield, the house, still exists, but is now a part of Laurence College. Laurie's grandfather has passed away, and his legacy was used to help create this institution. All of the surviving March sisters now assist all of the students at the college, as well as live on campus.

However, this book doesn't focus primarily on the college, but the original Plumfield boys. Nat moves to Europe to study music and begin to make a living with his beloved violin. Dan moves out west to try his luck at farming, but tragedy strikes. Tommy studies medicine for only one reason: to be with his old school chum Nan. Nan, however, will not return the lovestruck boy's affections. Demi tries his luck at newspaper reporting, much to his mother's chagrin. Daisy is in love with Nat, but her mother won't let her marry him until he proves himself capable of making a good living.

This is a fitting end to the March family story, although the very last chapter seems a bit rushed. Even though I am a speed reader, I really didn't want this book to end. I didn't want to say goodbye to any of these characters.

I will say, though, that this is the most serious, and most philosophical, volume of the series. Alcott touches on such issues as women's suffrage and co-education. The Plumfield boys face some very serious adult challenges. The March sisters cope with watching their children become adults. There weren't as many lighthearted moments in this book as there were in the first two. It did not, however, take away from my enjoyment of the plot. The Little Women series is one that I intend to reread someday.

This is the latest entry in my 2009 100+ Reading Challenge and my 2009 Read Your Own Books Challenge. As always, click on the buttons in the right sidebars for all of the archived lists.

Little Men, by Louisa May Alcott

Yes, it is way past my bedtime, but I always try to write my reviews right after I've finished a book, and I finished this one in just two sittings. Little Men, like Little Women, is a very charming, lovely novel, and a worthy successor to the first book in Louisa May Alcott's trilogy.

In Little Men, Jo is now married to a professor and has two young sons. She also, along with her husband, Fritz, runs the Plumfield School, a boarding school of fourteen boys and two girls. There are all kinds of personalities here at the school, but they are mostly orphaned, emotionally troubled, or have learning difficulties.

Nat is one of the boys, and he arrives at Plumfield at the beginning of the novel. He is an orphan who used to play the fiddle in the streets. He comes to Plumfield on the recommendation of Jo's old friend Laurie, who was her next door neighbor in Little Women. Dan is another orphan; he is much older, around sixteen or seventeen, and met Nat during their street urchin days. Tommy has a family, but is known as the "scapegrace" of the school and is constantly getting into mischief. It is implied that his family sent him to Plumfield in the hopes of acquiring some discipline and manners.

Demi is another one of the students at Plumfield; readers of Little Women will also know him as Jo's nephew or Meg's son. He is the bookworm and moral compass of the group. His twin sister, Daisy, is also a Plumfield student, and for a while, is the lone female. This changes when Nan enrolls at the school. While Daisy is refined and polite, Nan is a tomboy who likes to stir things up.

Alcott writes about all of these students, plus a few more, and their adventures over six months time. There is no real sequence to the story; like Little Women, Little Men is presented mostly as a series of vignettes. In spite of this, however, you do see character progression throughout the novel. For example, you get to see Dan mature from a tough, undisciplined fellow to a well-spoken, polite young man. Nan remains a tomboy, but Daisy helps her become less naughty.

Overall, there is one overarching theme: in spite of their differences, all of the students at Plumfield really love each other, and have particularly great affection for Jo and Fritz, whom the students know as Mother and Father Bhaer. There are occasional squabbles and scrapes, but each of the stories has a way of resolving itself in the end, with each character learning a lesson--very similar to the lessons that the four March sisters learned in each chapter of Little Women.

It is especially interesting to see how Jo has matured between Little Women and Little Men. In this book, Jo has entered the "Marmee" role, providing counsel, love, and support for each one of her students. She meets with each student every Sunday night and discusses their weekly reports in her "Conscience Book," a book which details all of the accomplishments, and possibly scrapes, that her students have done during the week. She has great affection for her boys, and often sees her girlhood self in some of them. The love and support that Jo and Fritz give their students is evident throughout the novel, and is what keeps the reader hooked.

I was left with the same warm feeling that I had after I finished Little Women. There is one last book in the trilogy, Jo's Boys, which I plan to start tomorrow. I'm currently finishing this at 1:39 AM EDT, and really can't stay up any longer. Besides, if I start Jo's Boys now, I'll get hooked and will possibly finish it by morning...but sleep calls!

This is the latest entry in my 2009 100+ Reading Challenge, my 2009 Read Your Own Books Challenge, and my 2009 2nds Challenge. As always, click on the buttons in the right sidebar for archived lists of all of my past reads!

Outliers: The Story of Success, by Malcolm Gladwell

A year and a half ago, I had read Malcolm Gladwell's first book, The Tipping Point, and really admired his thinking processes. I had started to read Blink, but due to some difficult circumstances going on at the time, never finished it. (But I fully intend to pick it up again).

When his third book, Outliers, came out, I decided to wait to read it, and couldn't wait any longer. This is his best book yet.

On the front flap of the book's dust jacket, an "outlier", according to Gladwell, is a person "whose achievements fall outside normal experience." Bill Gates and the Beatles are considered to be outliers, but so are Silicon Valley billionaires as well as top New York lawyers. All of these groups are profiled in this book.

Outliers argues that success has little, if anything, to due with hard work, intelligence, or ambition. Gladwell insists that success is the result of the environment in which one is raised, cultural legacy, even the year and month of one's birth. In other words, success depends largely on chance.

Take Bill Gates, for instance. In the seventh grade his parents enrolled him in a private school in Seattle. During his second year, the school purchased a computer that had a direct link to a mainframe in downtown Seattle. The computer was an ASR-33, considered to be a state-of-the-art piece of equipment for its time--the year 1968. (p. 51)

Long story short, Gates eventually started spending time programming at the computer center at the University of Washington. He would program anywhere between twenty and thirty hours a week, including weekends. (p. 52)

Gates, Gladwell argues, had an opportunity to develop computer programming skills at an early age, and especially at the time when the industry was just developing. These skills, and the amount of time he spent with computers, were what helped Gates when he founded Microsoft.

The Beatles are a similar success story. In 1960, a man named Bruno, who owned several nightclubs in Hamburg, Germany, saw the Beatles play in Liverpool and invited them to play at his clubs. Between 1960 and 1962, they made five trips to Hamburg. Gladwell writes about their experiences:

On their first trip, they played 106 nights, five or more hours a night. On their second trip, they played 92 times. On their third trip, they played 48 times, for a total of 172 hours on stage. The last two Hamburg gigs, in November and December of 1962, involved another 90 hours of performing. All told, they performed for 270 nights in just over a year and a half. By the time they had their first burst of success in 1964, they had performed an estimated twelve hundred times. Do you know how extraordinary that is? Most bands today don't perform twelve hundred times in their entire careers. The Hamburg crucible is one of the things that set the Beatles apart. (pp. 49-50)

The examples of Bill Gates and the Beatles illustrate another argument that Gladwell makes about success: according to some experts, in order to achieve true expertise in any given field, one must put in 10,000 hours of practice.

If that's true, then that's a loooonnngg road to Carnegie Hall--long, but worth it.

That's just one of the factors of success that Gladwell gives. There are many more, which I won't go into detail about here. I will say, however, that the chapters on cultural legacy, particularly the one about Asian achievements in math, are very, very interesting, perhaps the best portion of the entire book. He puts up some very valid arguments here.

What I have always liked about Malcolm Gladwell is that he takes very complex, abstract ideas and writes about them in very simple terms that everyone can understand. He doesn't dumb his ideas down, not by any means. He makes them very accessible.

This is the latest entry in my 2009 100+ Reading Challenge, my 2009 Read Your Own Books Challenge, and my 2009 Dewey Decimal Challenge. As always , click on the buttons in the right sidebar for all of the archived lists!

Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott

I was presented with the gift of Little Women when I was in the 4th or 5th grade; I can't remember. It sat on my bookshelf for years and years, never read, but very worn, because I'd pick it up now and then and flip through the pages to see what all the fuss was about. I knew it was a classic, and I had picked up its two sequels over the years, but never, ever read it.

Until now.

And I regret that I didn't read it sooner.

Little Women is one of those books that just--and forgive me for sounding corny here--warms your heart and leaves you contented and happy. It's a really lovely book, and you can really feel the warmth, love, and support that the March sisters all share with each other. Like all siblings, they have their own scrapes, arguments, and disagreements, but they recognize how important family bonds are, and this is a family bond that is very difficult to break.

The book is divided into two parts. The first part chronicles the childhood of the four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. Meg is the oldest, who only wants the very best, refined things and experiences that life has to offer. She is polite, well-mannered, and feminine. Jo, the second oldest, is a tomboy with a quick temper and a sharp tongue, who couldn't care less about refinement or politesse. Beth, the third March sister, is quiet, polite, does what she is told, and is the moral compass of the quartet. Amy, the youngest, is spoiled, a little stuck-up, and will do anything to fit in with her classmates.

The novel opens at the start of the Civil War. The March family patriarch, a minister, is away at war. The mother, whom the girls call Marmee, does some volunteer work for the war effort. Marmee and her daughters are extremely close, and every one of the March sisters goes to her for counsel, comfort, and confidence. (Man, I really like how I wrote that last line!)

The first portion of the novel is presented as a series of vignettes, most with a little moral at the end, where one of the March sisters learns a lesson in vanity, want, or controlling temper. For example, in one chapter, Meg goes away on a trip with the wealthy Moffat clan. Meg has always envied the Moffats and their high society ways. However, she learns very quickly that wealth does not guarantee happiness or harmony. Sometimes the sisters learn their lessons from experience, but other times from the comforting words of gentle Marmee, whom I imagine many girls would love to have as their own mother.

The second portion of the novel chronicles the girls' adulthood. Meg gets married, and finds that married life cannot survive on love alone. Amy matures and becomes interested in art and languages, and eventually finds herself on a trip abroad with some relatives. Jo becomes a published author and works to support her family through her writing; she eventually moved to New York to become a governess. Beth's health declines, but remains very supportive of her sisters and all of their accomplishments.

There are other memorable characters in Little Women other than the March family. The Laurences, the Marches' neighbors and benefactors, add a special part to the story. Elderly Aunt March also plays a prominent role. It is wonderful to see how the relationships among all of the characters deepen and mature over the years, and you feel like you're an eyewitness to it all. Alcott makes the readers an integral part of the story; she often addresses them directly.

I won't spoil you with the details of the ending, kittens, other than I will tell you that it is one of the best endings to a book that I ever read, and I found myself on the verge of tears as I finished. I really didn't want this book to end. I am about to embark on its sequel, Little Men, and hope that the second part of the trilogy doesn't disappoint. It has a lot to live up to.

This is the latest entry in my 2009 100+ Reading Challenge, my 2009 1st in a Series Challenge, my 2009 Read Your Own Books Challenge, as well as my 2009 Chunkster Challenge. As always, click on the buttons in the right sidebar for archived lists of all my challenges!

In a Sunburned Country, by Bill Bryson

I am currently writing this in the middle of the afternoon on the Fourth of July, while it's still fresh in my head. To think, I spent this most American of holidays, poolside, reading a book about...Australia.

Bill Bryson is one of my very favorite authors. I have read a few of his wonderful tomes; my two favorites are A Walk in the Woods, his account of hiking the Appalachian Trail, and The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America, where he travels the USA in, of all things, a Chevette. Anyone remember those cars, kittens, the hallmark of GM's glory days?

Anyhoo, pretty much anything involving Bill Bryson and traveling is guaranteed to be a wonderful book, and In a Sunburned Country is just that. Up till I had finished this book, I didn't know much about Australia except for these random facts:

• It is the only continent that is also its own country.
• It is the only continent lying completely below the equator.
• It's capital is Canberra, not Sydney.
• Kangaroos and duckbill platypuses live there.
• Two big symbols of Australia are the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge.
• Hugh Jackman (SWOON!), Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, and Naomi Watts all hail from there.
• Sydney hosted the Olympics in 2000.
• It's inhabitants have cool accents and colloquialisms.

Bryson's book is thoroughly researched, and takes you all across Australia, to areas of the continent that are still either sparsely or non-populated. Even though it's a small continent, you still have to travel hundreds of miles between tourist destinations and/or cities and towns. He writes about roads that are so isolated, that if your car breaks down in the middle of the hot Australian desert, you're basically screwed.

He also writes about how Australia, in spite of its poor soil, has produced some of the most spectacular plant species in the world, plants that cannot live anywhere else. In this same vein, he writes about the hundreds of species of poisonous insects that can kill a human being instantly. He spends quite a bit of time writing about this throughout the book, particularly in the beginning, where he writes about his fear about being stung by a jellyfish during his attempts to learn how to boogieboard.

Bryson's specialty lies in two areas, one of which is describing cultural phenomenon that are unique to Australia. For example, in chapter 7, Bryson writes about his experience listening to the radio while traveling the eight hundred miles from Canberra to Adelaide:

"As if to emphasize the isolation, all the area radio stations began to abandon me. One by one their signals faltered, and all those smoky voices so integral to Australian airwaves--Vic Damone, Mel Torme, Frank Sinatra at the mindless height of his doo-bee-doo phase--faded away, as if being drawn nby some heavy gravity back into the hole from which they had escaped. Eventually the radio dial presented only an uninterrupted cat's hiss of static but for one clear spot near the end of the dial. At first I thought that's all it was--just an empty clear spot--but then I realized that I could hear the faint shiftings and stirrings of seated people, and after quite a pause, a voice, calm and reflective, said:

'Pilchard begins his long run in from short stump. He bowls and...oh, he's out! Yes, he's got him. Longwilley is caught leg-before in middle slops by Grattan. Well, now what do you make of that, Neville?'

'That's definitely one for the books, Bruce. I don't think I've seen offside medium-slow fast-pace bowling to matchi it since Baden-Powell took Rangachangabanga for a maiden ovary at Bangalore in 1948.'

I had stumbled into the surreal and rewarding world of cricket on the radio." (p. 105)

Bryson's other strength lies in his writings about forgotten Australian heroes. Take, for instance, the tale of explorer Ernest Giles:

"In the same year that he lost Gibson in the desert and stumbled 120 miles through appalling heat [1874], Giles also explored the central regions around the area known as Yulara. One day he struggled up a small rise and was confronted with a sight such as he could never have dreamed of finding. Before him, impossibly imposing, stood the most singular monolith on earth, the great red rock now known as Uluru. Hastening to Adelaide to report the find, he was informed that a man named William Christie Gosse had chanced upon it a few days ahead of him and had already named it Ayers Rock in honor of the South Australia governor.

Eventually, too old to explore, Giles ended up working as a clerk in the goldfields of Coolgardie, where he died in obscurity in 1891. Today he is almost entirely forgotten. No highway bears his name." (pp. 246-247)

I really could go on about the different topics that Bryson explores, but if I did, I would essentially be rewriting the book. In a Sunburned Country is a very affectionate view of the Land Down Under. What I have always liked about Bryson's writing is that he writes as if you were right there with him. Open the book, read a few paragraphs, and suddenly, you're with him in Australia. I love writers who have the ability to do this, to take me places in the comfort of my own chair. I especially love how Bryson takes his readers off the tourist path, to places that tourists wouldn't necessarily explore on their own. He really gets into writing about the depth and breadth of Australian culture.

Before I read this book, one of my goals in life was to travel to Australia. Now I want to go there even more.

This book is the latest entry in my 2009 100+ Reading Challenge, my 2009 Read Your Own Books Challenge, as well as my 2009 Summer Vacation Reading Challenge. As always, click on the buttons in the sidebars for the archived lists of all of my reads!