6 Books in January!

Six books in January! Of the first six of the year, I only really recommend the last one, Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. But here are all of my recaplets:

1. The Lark and the Wren - Mercedes Lackey ***
Fiction/Fantasy, ©1991, 491p

Whenever I am at my parent's house for Christmas, I raid the shelves of books I purchased but never read. When I was in high school, I was very into fantasy novels. I still like them, but my tastes are much broader than they were then. Also, it takes a lot for me to see something really new, interesting, and grabbing. I read all of Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books when I was in middle school and high school, so I guess I must have gotten the Bardic Voices quartet because of that. The first Bardic Voices novel is about Rune, a fiddler girl who works in the kitchens of an inn until she run away to become a proper bard. In order to do this, she fiddles all night for the Skull Hill Ghost to get enough money to run away. This first book seems more like a set up for the next three, as it lays the groundwork for the politics of this particular world. The writing was okay, but it seemed more like a book of short stories than a cohesive plot.

2. The Robin and the Kestrel - Mercedes Lackey ***
Fiction/Fantasy, ©1994, 384p

Book 2 of the Bardic Voices Quartet is about two of the characters introduced in the end of the first Bardic Voices novel. The political situation in the world disintegrated even more with the Church trying to ban non-Guild Bards from singing anywhere. They also are preaching against non-humans - that they have no souls and shouldn't be allowed in the various villages. Robin and Kestrel go up against one such Church man and uncover a long standing plot to cheat the poor the underprivileged. This book was extremely formulaic, though better really than the first one as it read like one cohesive story.

3. A Cast of Corbies - Mercedes Lackey and Joseph Sherman ***
Fiction/Fantasy, ©1994, 320p

Book 3 features Robin, yet a different free Bard. In this case, he and some of the other bards take up a position as the orchestra for a theater group. Once again, the church preaches against the theater as being immoral and violence ensues. Amdist the violence, two of the Free Bards find love. By the time I finished this book, I had the forumla down and was unsurprised by anything that happened.

4. Vanishing Acts - Jodi Picoult ***
Fiction/Contemporary, ©2005, 448p

I generally enjoy Jodi Picoult's books, but this one the worst of the ones I have read (My Sister's Keeper, Nineteen Minutes, The Pact). Vanishing Acts is about a woman who finds out that her father kidnapped her when she was only 4 years old. The kidnapping is discovered and it throws the entire family into turmoil. The book is largely about her father's trial and meeting her mother for the first time. Picoult simply tries to tackle too many Issues in this book - there are bits about the treatment of prisoners, drug use and trafficking, alcoholism, kidnapping, and even a little native american's rights and Hopi mysticism for good measure. As a result, the book is a little adrift in Issues and it's hard to really focus on one.

5. How to Be Good - Nick Hornby ****
Fiction/Contemporary, ©2002, 320p

I go back and forth on Nick Hornby. This is the fourth book of his that I have read (About A Boy, Slam, A Long Way Down are the others) and I mostly like it. Nick Hornby's strength is his ability to completely inhabit the thoughts, feelings and motivations of the character that he is voice. How To Be Good is about a woman in an unhappy marriage. Her husband, a formerly angry man, meets a faith healer and has a spiritual conversion. Most of the book is about the main character trying to find a way to deal with that and trying to decide whether or not she should stay in her family or get a divorce. I thought that How To Be Good was very funny and touching and the main character is very believable. I thought the ending was a bit of a downer and perhaps sends a slightly bad message to people, but overall I would recommend this one.

6. Infidel - Ayaan Hirsi Ali *****
Non-Fiction/Autobiography, ©2007, 353p

Seriously, you must read this book. This is the first selection for my new quasi-feminist women's book club and it was fantastic. It is the autobiography of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an feminist who has written stories and even drafted legislation to empower women who have grown up in the Islamic religion. This book is fascinating on two levels. The first is the story of her life. She was born in Somalia and then moved to Saudi Arabia and Kenya due to the disintegration of the government in Somalia. She gives an unflinching account of her own circumcision. Eventually he father betroths her to a man she doesn't know and doesn't like, so she runs away to Holland where she is given status as a political refugee. From there, she learns Dutch and works her way through university and is even elected to Parliament. The second level of this book is her own personal struggle with Islam. She understands the Islamic religion and speaks about it frankly and candidly. She talks about the way that the Islamic relgion holds women back and breeds violent behavior. It is really, really fascinating. You must read it. Go out and buy it today. Read it. Love it. I predict that it will be one of my favorite books all year.

Sharks with frickin' laser beams on their heads.

In Africa, one of the most dangerous animals is the hippo. Most people would say that the most dangerous animal is a lion or a leopard, but most people would be wrong. It is the hippo. The reason it is the hippo is because hippos are quite stupid, quite large and quite aggressive. When a hippo is spooked, it runs. And if you are in the way of a hippo, you will be trampled. And if an animals isn't very smart, the chances of spooking it are quite high. If you were to run into a lion on the savanna, if it had eaten recently, it might not even make its presence known. If you got really close to it, it might release a warning roar - a sound to make even the manliest of men want to pee their pants (and yes, I do know this from experience). The warning roar simply says, "Yo, dude. Turn back the other way. Here be monsters." And if you are a sensible person, you do what the lion says because it has sharp pointy teeth.

So what is the most dangerous animal in North America? Some people might bet on the mountain lion. Others might bet on a buffalo (also large, stupid and possessing pointy horns). But today I would like to advance the goose as the most dangerous animal in North America. Apparently, geese have superpowers. They can cause planes to crash into the Hudson River upon take off.

For those living under a rock, there was another plane crash in New York City. Thankfully, unlike those other plane crashes, there were no casualities. A plane, as it was taking off from LaGuardia, ran into some birds (presumably geese) which caused an engine malfunction. The pilot - who, incidentally, it totally amazing from all reports - managed to land the plane in the Hudson River where rescue crews were able to ferry the survivors to the shore, and medical attention was given for hypothermia and other effects of the cold.

What surprises me most about this whole incident are comments like this one (sadly not isolated at all):

"Ellen Howe, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration, confirmed only that there was "no known nexus to terrorism" in the downing."

Because, you know, everything bad that happens in America is a terrorist attack, until proven otherwise. Al Queda armed those geese with frickin' laser beams on their head, and released them over the airfield so that this Airbus 360 with 126 passengers heading to North Carolina would crash.

Srsly?

Book Roundup

I made it with ease this year, coming it at 54 books. That's more than one per week! WOO HOO.

Here are some of the highlights:

# of books read: 55
- female authors: 17 / male authors: 19 (each other counted once - lots of repeats this year)
- nonfiction: 4 / fiction: 50
* general fiction: 12
* young adult: 1
* fantasy: 22
* mystery: 2
* historical fiction: 1
* romance: 3
* classic: 7

- Longest Book: The Other Boleyn Girl at 672pp
- Shortest Book: I Have The Right To Destroy Myself at 132pp
- Oldest Book: Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719

Set aside: 4 books this year. One of them I'll definitely go back to and finish.

Best Books
---------------------
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
I resisted reding this book for a long time because of the gory subject matter. I mean, a little girl who is raped and killed and watches her family from Heaven? But Sebold manages to make this book touching without syrupy, and achieves a sense of hopefulness in the end, despite the difficult subject matter. Sometimes books make a bestseller list for a reason, and this is definitely one of them.

The Caliph's House by Tahir Shah
My favorite non-fiction author is Tahir Shah.  In this book, he moves his entire family to Casablanca and into an old Caliph's House ... which they decide to restore and renovate.  Hijinks, including the impossible search for help and the exorcism of a djinn ensue.  Tahir Shah always mocks himself with dignitiy and finds the humor in his situations.  He clearly respects all of the people around him and write about them in a way where the reader can see the amusement, but he never makes fun.  I wish I had his job. 

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
From the beginning, this book captivated me.  Anne Boleyn is arguably the most famous of Henry the VIII's wives.  Philippa Gregory managed to tell the story of that time period in a way that brings a fresh and interesting view.  By using Catherine Boleyn as the narrator, we see Anne in a different way - ambitious, desperate and doing what she needed to do to stay ahead of the crowd. 

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
If you've never read anything by Jodi Picoult, you should start here.  I loved this book and passed it on to someone else who also loved it.  About a school shooting, I especially loved the portions of the book that deal with the parents of the shooter.  An excellent read. 
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Path
Classic feminist literature.  I can't believe I didn't read this sooner. 

The Awakening by Kate Chopin
See above.  A must-read for any women who has been questioned about not wanting to be a wife and a mother. 

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
A Handmaid's Tale-esque book the explores the relationships between friends and lovers, as well as touches upon larger social issues.  Set in a world that both is and is not the world that we know, this book is disturbing in the way it hits close to home. 

Most Disappointing
--------------------------
Getting Stoned with Savages by J. Maarten Troost
I loved The Sex Lives of Cannibals , but this book was too much about politics and pot and not enough about going native. 

Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
I think Anderson understand women better than men.  I loved Speak, but this felt overwrought.

House of the Tiger King by Tahir Shah
Instead of his usual jovial attitude, this book is as bogged down as his crew was on their trip up the amazon river.  Good thing he moved to Morocco!

The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay
A mess of a novel with too much storylines stolen from other places. 

Christy by Catherine Marshall
I loved this book as a young adult, but as an adult it had too much preaching in it for me.  I don't know how I missed that when I was younger.

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Defoe should stick to prostitutes.  There was too much Bible in this for me.



50 Book Challenge 2008

Key:
italics = in prograss
Ratings:
* = poor
** = fair
*** = good
**** = very good
***** = READ THIS BOOK NOW!

Fiction/Classic Literature:
No Longer At Ease - Chinua Achebe *****
Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe *****
The Awakening - Kate Chopin *****
Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe ***
As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner ***
Grendel - John Gardner *****
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath *****

Fiction/Contemporary:
Bodily Harm - Margaret Atwood ***
The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory *****
Slam - Nick Hornby ****
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro *****
I Have The Right To Destroy Myself - Young-Ha Kim ***
Private Dancer - Stephen Leather ****
Christy - Catherine Marshall ****
Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk ****
Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult *****
Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold *****
Light in Snow - Anita Shreve ***

Fiction/Fantasy:
Magic Bites - Ilona Andrews ****
Magic Burns - Ilona Andrews ****
Blood Rites - Jim Butcher ****
Death Masks - Jim Butcher ****
Dead Beat - Jim Butcher ****
Fool Moon - Jim Butcher ****
Proven Guilty - Jim Butcher ****
Storm Front - Jim Butcher ***
Summer Knight - Jim Butcher ****
White Night - Jim Butcher ****
The Wind Witch - Susan Dexter ****
Debt of Bones - Terry Goodkind **
The Dark River - John Twelve Hawks ****
The Traveler - John Twelve Hawks ****
The Darkest Road - Guy Gavriel Kay ***
Song for Arbonne - Guy Gavriel Kay ****
The Summer Tree - Guy Gavriel Kay **
The Wandering Fire - Guy Gavriel Kay ***
Gate of the Cat - Andre Norton ***
Hands of Lyr - Andre Norton ****
Mirror of Destiny - Andre Norton ****
The Iron Dragon´s Daughter - Michael Stanwick ****
Caliban's Hour - Tad Williams ****

Fiction/Romance:
Silent Fall - Barbara Freely ***
Switcheroo - Olivia Goldsmith *
Accidentally Yours - Susan Mallery **

Fiction/Mystery:
The Game - Laurie R. King ***
Out - Natsuo Kirino ****
The Full Cupboard of Life - Alexander McCall Smith ***
The Kalahari Typing School for Men - Alexander McCall Smith ****

Children/Young Adult:
Twisted - Laurie Halse Anderson ***
Twilight - Stephanie Meyers ***

Nonfiction/Travel Essay
The Caliph's House - Tahir Shah *****
House of the Tiger King - Tahir Shah *** Getting Stoned with Savages - J. Maarten Troost ***

Nonfiction/Science
In Control of Nature - John McPhee ****


set aside:
Faery in Shadow - C.J. Cherryh
Gardens of the Moon - Steven Erikson
Under the Black Flag - David Cordingly
Freedom at Midnight - Dominique La Pierre

True Story

On Monday night, I took the trash out. The bins are right in front of my building, so all I did was toss on my slippers and a blue hoodie and schlep it out. I opened the door to my apartment and automically placed my keys on the hook beside the door which is their habitual resting place. I can always find my keys.

At that EXACT SAME TIME that I did this, Blue (my fluffy white cat) decided it would be fun to see what's outside. He slid out past me and started walking toward the front door of the building.

Now, the front door of the building was locked. And closed. But that didn't stop my one moment of blinding panic - my OMGMYCATMYCAT moment - so I ran after him to scoop him up and put him back in my apartment. What is the problem with that, you ask? MY KEYS WERE NEXT TO MY DOOR. INSIDE MY STUDIO APARTMENT. THAT I LIVE IN ALONE.

So, what did I do? I walked the six blocks to my friend's apartment who has a spare set of my keys. I walked there in my slippers carrying 17 pounds of angry cat. Blue meowed the entire way there and the entire way back. People kept looking at me like I was a horrible person for torturing my cat, and I kept telling Blue that all of this was HIS FAULT. I was so scared he would twist just right and get away from me and run into the street and get hit by a car and DIE.

But he didn't. And my friend accompanied me back to my apartment just in case I needed the cat back-up, which was good because it's hard to open a door when you're carying SEVENTEEN POUNDS OF ANGRY CAT.

And that was Monday.

Sadness.

The kole tang I got a few weeks ago introduced a virulent pathogen into my tank. So far, I've lost 5 fish. I know they're only fish, but it makes me really sad. I have 5 fish left: my pair of pylei wrasses, one yellow clown goby, my purple firefish and my blue green chromis. Thus far, they are unaffected as far as I can tell. My royal gramma is definitely affected but seems to be possibly throwing off the infection. I think he is probably doomed though.

RIP


Mandarin


Kole Tang


Lamarcki Angel


Tail-Spot Blenny


Yellow Clown Goby

Palin SNL

So, Sarah Palin was on Saturday Night Live.





(You should watch the sketch on the top because Amy Poeler was FREAKING HYSTERICAL!)

Here are my thoughts on this. Sarah Palin is not the first political figure to appear on SNL having been mocked week after week in their sketches. I remember when Bob Dole appeared and he and the cast had a good time poking fun at the way he always referred to himself in the third person. But here is the difference between Bob Dole and Sarah Palin: Bob Dole was always taken seriously. Sure, sketch comedy shows mocked him, but public perception of him was that he was a serious candidate with experience and a legitimate claim to the presidency. He lost of course, but not because of questions about his experience or knowledge. Sarah Palin is questioned about those things constantly. She's already made herself human and approachable with all of her down-home talking - what she needs to do for her image is to make herself seem MORE serious and MORE capable. Her appearance on SNL (while proving she is a semi-good sport) just makes her seem all the more frivolous.

But seriously, watch that first sketch. Holy crap it's funny.

Books.

#47
The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay
fiction/fantasty, (c)1984, 383pp
rating: **

#48
The Wandering Fire by Guy Gavriel Kay
fiction/fantasy, (c)1986, 375pp
rating: ***

These two books comprise book 1 and book 2 of the Fionavar Tapestry, the first series of books by fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay. I am still reading the third one, so it will be reviewed separately. Earlier in the year, I read Song for Arbonne also by Kay. I liked it well enough - it was a quick and engaging read though not without some flaws and not something I'd pick up over and over again. However, it was engaging enough and I know enough people who love this author that I thought I'd give the Fionavar Tapestry a try. People who are rabid fans of Kay insist that these are his best books.

All I have to say is it is a good thing that I read something else first or I would never go back to him as an author.

The overall story of The Fionavar Tapestry is that five university student from University of Toronto get whisked into an alternate world called Fionavar. They think they are going as part of a ceremony for the High King of Brennin but it becomes quickly clear that there is more going on in Fionavar than meets the eye. And, conincidently, all of the students brought to Fionavar are destined to play different intricate roles in the upcoming battle between Rakoth - god of evil - and the combined forces of light.

Does any of that sound familiar? If you've read any fantasy novels at all, you should recognize one of the universal plots. If a writer can't think of anything new, they can always have a fight between the forces of good and evil. In this case, the fight borrows a LOT of JRR Tolkien. There are the usual creatures - dwarves, humans and "lios alfar" - aka elves. In fact, the lios alfar also "go west" when they die, much like the elves do in the Lord of the Rings series. They create an alliance against evil - also much like in the Lord of the Rings series. Rakoth rules with a bunch of nasty creatures and one traitorous mage (Saruman anyone?) from a mountain fortress (Mordir anyone?)

The truth is that tons of fantasy writers borrow from Tolkien and in this case I think part of it was intentional. Kay has this idea that his world will wrap up all sort of themes from other worlds that repeat themselves over and over and over agfain - although it is never made clear whether or not the Tolkein-esque elements are part of this idea. What is made clear as part of this idea is bits of Arthurian legend. Yes, that's right, out of the mists come elements of Camelot and King Arthur and his love of Guenevere. I thought all of that seems contrived and very out of place in the book - especially the way that all of the characters greet King Arthur as if they know him somehow.

Of the two books, the first is worse than the second. In the first book, we are introduced to a huge cast of characters within a span of 50 pages with no character development whatsoever. The characters and the mythology of the world made such a small impression on me that I kept having to flip to the cast of characters to remind myself who all of these people were. The five university students in particular are given very little character development and seem to take it in stride that a mage from another land would just pop up on the University of Toronto campus and whisk them away. We can tell that some of the characters are holding deep and hidden pains but it's hard to care without the backstory. After the character development in the first book, this gets easier in the second book and I stopped having to check the different characters every 30 or so pages.

Also in the first book there is a rape incident. I hate hate hate it when fantasy authors incorporate rate or threat of rape as a major plot point in their novels. But that's a matter of taste I suppose.

The writing in these books is not as good as in his later books. A lot of the foreshadowing is extremely heavy handed. The omnipotent narrator says things like, "And in this one there was something more. She looked like someone. He knew this, or he sensed it to be so, but although he was quite right, he had absolutely no way of knowing whom, and so could not warn anyone." Who could she be, the reader is suppose to ask themselves. And of course, we do .. but there are less heavy-handed ways to get the reader thinking along those lines.

Something kind of interesting about this book is that he obviously decided to go back to some of the themes and ideas from these in his later novels. In Song for Arbonne, the priestesses are blinded in order to commune better with the goddess; in The Fionavar Tapestry, the Dalrei blind their seers so he can commune better with the gods. In Song for Arbonne, Midsummer's Eve is a time of rampant sexuality - the same is true in The Fionavar Tapestry. And there are similar echoes of the rights of women to choose their mates in the Dalrei of Fionavar and the women of Arbonne.

Anyway. I almost didn't bother to read the other books, but I always finish what I start. So now I'm starting the third one. May it be better than the other two combined.

Blue & Sheets

Mr. Blue likes the new sheets I got too!

Sheets

I bought new sheets today. I should not be trusted in houseware stores alone with a credit card. It's funny - marriage is not a priority for me, but I would love to register for stuff. It's kind of a geeky thing but I love all of the sheets and curtains and new pillows and soft fluffy towels. I had to restrain myself from buying a bamboo hamper and two thirty dollar bath sheets of the softest, most buttery and absorbent cotten ever. But the sheets! They called to me. They said, "We're 300 thread count sateen!" They said, "We're a beautiful orange paisley pattern that compliments your decor in all of it's jewel-toned richness! You must buy us!"

... so I did. And all I wanted were some cheap picture frames to hang some of my photos in my bathroom. I spent the better part of an hour being filled with the familiar mixture of happiness and shame - happiness with my new purchase and the shame of having made it when I'm so close to utter financial ruin. Happiness will win out when I slide between them tonight. Ah, new sheets, I love you so.

On Saturday, I switched over my aquarium from a 40g tank to a 75g tank. It looks SO much better and makes the room look larger. Once I get my wood panels made and the old tank out, I'll take some pictures of my apartment. The best thing is that by just selling my old skimmer (filtration device), I've paid for my entire upgrade since so many of my friends gave me stuff for free and I was able to use a lot of the things I already have. It's nice to have generous friends. Everything is still settling in; photos forthcoming.

Central Park

And it's not even Caturday!

Tyra Banks

So, I saw a taping of the Tyra Banks show today. This is the first time I saw a Tyra episode all the way through. A friend of mine asked me to go to the taping with her so I figured - why not? The price was certainly right. But it really wasn't bad at all - and she seems really sincere. She was totally joking about her dress making her boobs look saggy and the height of her hair during the commercials. I was overall really impressed.

Also, you have no idea what the show theme is going to be when you sign up so I was ridiculously excited when - drum roll please - Clinton Kelly came out (from TLC's What Not To Wear, one of my favorite television shows of all time. Mock me if you will, but straight legged dark wash jeans and structured jackets have revolutionized my wardrobe.) I almost squee-ed I was so excited and a camera swooped down in front of my face. Erg. And lots of gifts! Macys gift card (ostensibly for a pair of jeans), QVC gift card (ostensibly for a tunic which I might actually buy) and a copy of Clinton's new book. I talked to him briefly after the show with a group of people who were exiting at the same time and he is super nice. I wished I had a camera with me (but the Tyra Show doesn't allow it).

The taping was really fun and actually they didn't have to go back and fix and edit things hardly at all. So overall, I WIN! My friend and I were chatting after the taping and we would both totally do this again as it wasn't that hard to get tickets and the experience was very positive. Yay Tyra!

The Emmys

My friend BM works in television so she had a little Emmy watching party last night. I hadn't seen the Emmys in a couple of years and I must say that I was unimpressed over all. Here is my own best and worst list:

THE BEST
----------------

1. Ricky Gervais gets his Emmy back.
Gervais introduced a video montage of how to give an acceptance speech which ended with the video of last year when Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert gave his Emmy to Steve Carrell. Gervais walked off the stage and demanded his Emmy back from Steve, asking him whether or not he'd seen Ghost Town yet since he sat through two hours of Evan Almighty while Stewart and Colbert were laughing in the background.

2. Don Rickles goes off script.
Don Rickles and Kathy Griffin were the pair of introducers and Rickles mocked and left the teleprompter script. Every time Kathy Griffin tried to go back to the script, Rickles made another jab. Very funny.

3. Laura Linny's acceptance speech.
After winning for her role in John Adams, she ended her speech with subtle jab at the Republican Party by saying it was amazing what a bunch of "community organizers" could do. Nicely done, Laura, nicely done.

4. Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert
Colbert's semi-endorsement of John McCain using prunes ("I don't want to stop eating prunes. What could go wrong?!") was very funny.

5. Josh Grobin has a sense of humor.
In the middle of the Emmys, Josh Grobin did a musical medley of a bunch of different television theme songs. A lot of the critics hated this, but I thought it was really funny and he seemed to have a real sense of humor about it. I was expecting him to take it seriously, but instead he rapped the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song. Nice.

6. Tommy Smothers
Steve Martin's intro into giving Tommy Smothers his honorary Emmy was funny and touching - as was the acceptance speech that Smothers gave.

7. Jeremy Piven
"What would happen if I just talked about nothing for 12 minutes for my acceptance speech? Oh wait that was the opening."

THE WORST
----------------

1. The Hosts
Who thought it was a good idea to have five reality television hosts host the Emmys? They were not funny and blathered on and on about nothing over and over and over again. All of their jokes fell flat and Howie Mandell couldn't shut up. The best part of the show was when it started to run long and the hosts were cut.

2. The Amazing Race wins again?
Enough is enough.

3. Jeremy Piven wins again?
Enough is enough.

4. Laugh-in Reunion
The Laugh-In reunion wall of jokes was a good idea in concept but sometimes jokes from 40 years ago don't translate that well into the present.

5. Mary Tyler Moore's arms.
She is officially too old to wear a sleeveless garment.

I Have The Right To Destroy Myself by Young-Ha Kim

I Have The Right To Destroy Myself by Young-Ha Kim
fiction, (c)1996 (english translation in 2007), 119pp
rating: ***

I Have The Right To Destroy Myself is a very slim novel by young Korean author Young-Ha Kim. I picked it up out of the 50% off box at The Strand because of the eye-catching title. This book is told partially through the eyes of a nameless, faceless narrator. The narrator had a unique job - he is specific that is not a murderer, rather he helps people to commit suicide. He becomes involved in a love triangle between K and C (brothers) and a young woman named Se-young. Also involved in the story are a performance artist and a woman from Hong Kong who is allergic to water.

Because the book is so short, there is not really a lot of room for character development. Despite that, there is a certain amount of moodiness in the sparse writing. There are continual allusions to different pieces of art, such at Klimt's "Judith" and the ways that art mirrors life. The middle of the story with the woman from Hong Kong falls a little flat but the parts that concentrate on the brothers and their obsession with Se-young are fast moving and well told.

All in all, it was a quick read. It would be great for a plane, but I wouldn't necessarily seek it out. People with a greater background in art history might get more out of this than I did.

SNL just got good?

In conclusion, I invite the media to grow a pair. And if you can't, I'll lend you mine.

Lightning Crashes

More Books

I can't believe how quickly I am ripping through the books this year. I'm going to easily be able to finish my 50 book challenge this year. I have been a little lazy on the reviews but I'll try to get to rectifying that in the near future. But, for the time being ....

41. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Greogry
fiction/historical, (c) 2002, 672pp
rating: *****

The Other Boleyn Girl is probably Philippa Gregory's most often read book and the only one that was turned into a (terrible) movie. It is about the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn told through the eyes of her less famous younger sister, Mary. When I picked out this book, I thought it would take me a long time to read as it is quite long, but instead I plowed through it in under two days. The writing is great and extremely absorbing. Telling the story through an unfamiliar narrator gives it a certain freshness such that even though we all know how the story ends (off with her head!) it still made me want to see how we were going to get there. And that is the mark of a great book. I highly recommend it.

42. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
fiction, (c) 2008, 480pp
rating: ****

Jodi Picoult is an extremely engaging author. Though I am not usually a fan of general contemporary fiction, Picoult has a way of tackling issues that is absorbing and draws the reader in. Nineteen Minutes is about a school shooting and the way that the ramifications of that shooting echo across the entire town. In the book, the shooter is 18 year old Peter Houghton - a loner and a geek who has been subjected to years of bullying in school. Also at the center of this book is Josie Cormier, Peter's former best friend who left him (and happiness) for the popular crowd once they entered middle school.

The book is told through alternate time frames, skipping from the time that Peter and Josie are born up through the shooting and the subsequent trial. The flashbacks work well in this case as it is easy to see the way that the events of these two people's lives shaped the way that things happened in their futures. A good portion of the book is also devoted to the parents of Peter Houghton who constantly question what mistakes they made in Peter's upbringing that led him down this path.

It sounds like a downer of a book and it kind of is. But it is also extremely engaging and unlike the other two books by her that I've read, it ends in a way that is more satisfying. (Unlike My Sister's Keeper which made me want to toss the book across the room and The Pact which just left me vaguely unsatisfied). If you are new to Picoult's writing, this would be a good one to start with.

43. Christy by Catherine Marshall
fiction, (c) 1967, 511pp
rating: **** (and that fourth star is mostly for my fond memories)

When I was in high school (I think?), I loved the television series Christy with Tyne Daly and Kellie Martin. My mom told me that it was based on a book and that she had a copy, so I read it and read it again and read it again. I loved that book when I was younger. But unlike some of the other books that captured my imagination when I was young, it didn't make it into my small stack of books that I read over and over again to this very day. I was thinking about it not too long ago when I saw the DVD set for sale on amazon.com, so I found a used copy for a dollar and re-read it - probably 10-12 years after the first time.

Christy is about a nineteen year old girl who leaves Asheville, North Carolina to teach a one-room school house in Cutter Gap, a remote section of the Great Smoky Mountains. Once there, she meets: Miss Alice, a Quaker and a spiritual leader; David, a preacher; Neil MacNeil, a doctor come back to his mountain home; and many school children. These people all make an indelible impression on Christy's life as she comes to grips with reality in the backwoods. And of course, there is a love story which was given a lot more air time in the series than in the book.

I definitely liked this book a lot more when I was younger. Somehow I missed all of the obvious preaching and religious rhetoric. Or maybe I was just less sensitive to it when I was younger. The book is really about Christy's spiritual quest and the way that she makes peace with God and biblical stories and questions about faith make up a substantial part of the writing. i guess when I was younger I was better at ignoring all of that or just seeing it as one aspect of the story. The story itself is still good, but just not quite what I remembered.

File Under: Things that annoy me.

... being asked for the title of a talk I said I would give that is scheduled in February.

As if somehow I've given that any consideration at this early date.