Hour 17

Hour of challenge: 17 hours, 45 minutes
Hours reading/blogging: 7 hours, 45 minutes
Books read: 2 full, 1 partial
Pages read: 632

The Year the Gypsies Came Linzi Glass 260 pages

I first picked up this book because it was on some YALSA list that a coworker friend picked up for me at ALA midwinter. She had scrawled "sleeper hit of the year" next to the title.

Emily is almost 13 and lives in the suburbs of Johannesburg in 1966. Her parents marriage is strained, and they often have long-term house guests so they can sweep their issues under the rug for the company. Her mother is a real piece of work with quick mood swings and constantly resentful that her husband cannot provide her with the type of luxury she grew up in. Her sister, Sarah, deals with the tension by keeping everything perfect.

One summer, an Australian family who live in camper come and live with them (in their camper, in their driveway.) The father, a friendly wildlife photographer, is violent towards his sons, especially his oldest, Otis, who reminds the reader of Lennie, without a George to watch over him.

What is striking about this book is the way Emily, the narrator, notices and tells of us the small details in her life:

There's Father's partner, Clive, beefy and large, sweating under his Panama hat. Cigar ash perched on his big toe. His naked fat feet in sandals. His wife, Ursula, her bright yellow hair piled high on her head in a beehive, laughs with Mother as they stand under the cool shade of the plum trees. Cherry-colored drinks in their hands. Mother's lime-green sundress is pulled tight into her waist to show off its small size. Sometimes Mother even checks with a tape measure to make sure her waist stays "twenty-four inches, Emily, never more." Ursula's waist is at least thirty-five inches, according to Mother.

Also, Glass grew up in South Africa during the apartheid era and this story clearly reflects that with the minor, but striking, details of day to day life of the privileged British children. There is much racism in the book, but it is not a major issue, rather a powerful backdrop of the story, which makes it all the potent because Glass does not bang our heads against the injustice of it.

The last few pages of the book contain a good glossary of the all the Afrikaans words and one of the Zulu words, but they're all defined well in context.

Hour 4

Hours into the challenge: 4
Hours spent reading/blogging: 4
# pages read:372
# books read: 1 full, 1 partial

The Mates, Dates Guide to Life, Love, and Looking Luscious Cathy Hopkins 241 pages

This is a companion volume to the Mates, Dates... series. You know the stuff they put at the end of each chapter in those books? Well, this is kinda like a compendium of that, but it's not. I mean, it reads like it is, and some of the material is taken from the chapter-end material, but a lot of it is new.

And, there's some great stuff in here. I actually liked this book better than any book in the series and I wish I had it when I was in junior high/ high school. It gives important advice on how to make your first kiss not suck, how flirt, and how to spot a love rat. It also deals with more serious issues such as what to do if you're being bullied and how to tell if you're ready to have sex.

I love the section on homemade face and hair masks for different skin and hair types-- I must try them out. AND! Who knew there was a cure for whisker rash?!

One of my main complaints about the series (besides how a lot of the books came off like a bad after-school special) was the lousy translation job-- they'd just translate words and forget the context. In one book, Nesta makes a pun about public schools. Now in a translation from British to American English, "public school" means "private school". So, they changed the public to private... completely ruining the joke and making the entire page make NO SENSE if you didn't realize that's what had happened. There's not a lot of translation here. I mean check out this sentence:

Boys tend to be more anoraky than girls

Would anyone besides a hard core Anglophile know what "anoraky" means as an adjective? Because that's something I never would have picked up on until I moved there.

But then, once again, the one time they DO translate, they forget context. It say if you're mugged to hand over your personal property and call 911. Now, in the UK, you call 999. So, they translated the phone number, but the illustration still says 999.

But what really gets me is what's left untranslated-- it gives some great hotlines and websites to check out if you're being bullied, but they're all British. Would it have been so hard for the US publisher to add a few pages in back with American resources?

Also, just a note, this was written before the series ended, so keep that in mind, other wise some asides they make don't make ANY sense in the context of the last book, but it makes perfect sense if you realize that the events of the last book haven't happened yet.

Ok, it's after 1. Off to bed and then a group meeting tomorrow and lots more reading! Stay tuned!

Hour 2.5

Hours into the challenge: 2.5
Hours spent reading/blogging: 2.5
# pages read: 131
# books read: 1 partial

Ok, I did my reading for class on Monday-- chapters 1 and 2 of Discovering Computers 2007: A Gateway to Information, Complete (Shelly Cashman Series) Shelly Cashman

I learned a lot. For instance, did you know that...

A blog, short for weblog, is an informal Web site consisting of time-stamped articles, or posts, in a diary or journal format, usually listed in reverse chronological order...Blogs reflect the interests, opinions and personalities of the author, called the blogger, and sometimes site visitors. According to a Web tracking company, more than 500,000 posts appear on blogs each day... Home users... use blogs to share aspects of their personal life with family, friends, and others...

I didn't either! And guess what!

You can use something called an e-mail program to create, send, receive, forward, store, print, and delete email messages.

I am shocked and amazed.

Fork, meet eye.

Much thanks to Ali for talking to me (using this amazing technology that you should try sometimes called instant messaging) to help me survive this. I was also going to do the reading for Wednesday, but that will not happen tonight. Maybe tomorrow or Sunday...

Onto fun reading!

Let the Clock Start... Now

This is a fancy post. My posts this weekend will not have links, nor pictures. I'll go back and add those in next week.

Well, when you start a weekend you have a mental list of all the things you want to do now that you have "free" time. I had to check a few things off my list after work tonight before I could begin my 48 hour challenge.

For instance, look at the guest bedroom when I came home:

And my dresser:

See, school started this week, so things just kind of, well, exploded. (Just kidding-- things always look this bad. :) )

BUT! Look at the guest room/office now!

Ooooo and my dresser:

And the part of the bedroom that was too messy for a "Before" shot:

But is that a vodka gimlet with a stack of books?

Yes, yes it is. The 48 hours has begun.

Friday, 9pm.

TGIF

It's Friday!

I'm gearing up for a big weekend with Mother Reader's 48-Hour Challenge. I'm going to start sometime tonight. I haven't decided yet... I need to get some stuff done around the house, like cleaning the guest bedroom (I know, so exciting, but it's part of the bargain I made with myself to allow myself 48 hours of reading...)

I plan to catch up on all the YA stuff I have checked out and is due soon...

Interrupting my reading time will be a group meeting for school (I really hate group projects, luckily I managed to get a group that all live in my state, which is nice, because school is in a different state, on the other side of DC. I was once in a group where one member lived in a different state and one person lived in a different country. Yeah, he was only 1 hour away, but we couldn't call him, because we were students and that means we were poor and who can afford international calling rates to talk about a project no one wants to do anyway?)

On a better note, I'll also be hanging out with friends on Saturday night, grilling and stuff. I think I'll need to break on my brain. Other than that, lots and lots of reading. And blogging about reading. I'll post again tonight when I start, if my computer agrees with me.

But, also, because it's Friday, here's a poem:

Widow's Lament

It's not quite cold enough
to go borrow some firewood
from the neighbors.

-Richard Brautigan

Also, a quick blogger question-- if my template doesn't include a left sidebar, is there an easy way to add one? Because I want one, but I don't want to change my template.

Fairy Tales

Y'all know how much I love a good fairy tale retelling, so here's a slew of them that I can't believe I haven't blogged about yet. Plus, I'm just getting in the blogging groove for this weekend. That, and I've fallen behind on my New Year's Resolution to review 5 books a week or enough to keep up with current reading, whichever is less. After this post, I'll only be 9 books behind! Woo-hoo!

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

Wonderland has just survived a bloody civil war and an uneasy peace reigns, but on Alyss Heart's seventh birthday, her Aunt Redd storms the palace with a rebel army. Alyss's parents are killed before her eyes and the young princess flees through a lake to Victorian London where her stories of Wonderland brand her as odd. Eventually, Alice (her new family forces her to change the spelling of her name) thinks she finds a friend who believes her stories. But when Lewis Carroll publishes Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the details are all wrong. Alice knows she has been betrayed. Will she give up on Wonderland altogether? And what about the ragtag band of rebels, who call themselves Alyssians, who are fighting Redd's horror-filled regime?

Bador's action-packed adventure takes readers from Wonderland to England and back again, and shows us a different side of well-loved characters and places. An interesting (and bloody) twist on a classic story, this is the first in a trilogy-- I'm looking forward to the next ones.

This was also interesting because in Germany (where it was originally published) it was an adult book. My library has it in juvenile! It's also a great "boy book." Who would have thought to turn Alice into a bloody book about war and revenge?

Also, I won a Looking Glass Wars t-shirt that says "Wonderland Exists" on the back. It's awesome and really soft. I sleep in it all the time.

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

Did you like Ella Enchanted? Good. You'll like this one. Like Ella, this is a very loose retelling of a classic fairy tale; in this case it's Snow White.

Aza is not pretty. All of her life, people at her inn have made fun of her because her cheeks are too chubby, she is too wide, her hair is dull black, and her lips are too red. Although she is not pretty, Aza has a beautiful voice and in a country of singers, it sets her apart. Not only does she have one of the best voices in the country, but she can illusing--make her voice sound like it's coming from other objects and people. But when the new queen wants Aza to sing for her and deceive the entire kingdom, can Aza refuse? What will happen whens he gets caught?

Not only is this a creative and wonderful re-imagining of Snow White, but it is also an inspiring tale of self-confidence and inner beauty. I especially liked how Levine works in the dwarves.

Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley

This is a fantastic treatment of Cinderella that has drawn a lot of comparisons to the work of Gail Carson Levine. Bella's mother dies during her birth and the infant is sent away to be raised by peasants. Her best friend is a prince, a lowly 4th son. The class differences lead to an awful snub, and then Prince Julian is sent away as a hostage for peace. Bella is called back by her father and, for the first time, learns her peasant family is not her family. And here we get some evil steps.

The great thing about this story is that Bella has some real agency and there isn't any magic. I'll tell you know that the fairy godmother does not make an appearance in this book-- Bella does what has to be done for herself. It's lovely, really.

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley

I first got this book on book order in late elementary school. (Man, I miss book orders. Do they still have those? Am I going to totally embarrass my kid by ordering all the $2 books for myself?) I never read the book. I eventually weeded it or gave it away or something.

Two summers ago, my friend Elizabeth and I were talking in the post Half-Blood Prince funk. I was filling it by rereading the The Enchanted Forest Chronicles. She was rereading Beauty.

I still didn't get to it until September. Because I'm a freak (plus, dude, I read it in September and am blogging about it NOW?!)

Anyway, it's great and you should read it and I wish I had read it the first time around because I would be rereading it all the time now.

Beauty is not as pretty as her older sisters-- the name is ironic. She is gangly and awkward, but smart and quick-witted. Her father becomes financially ruined and the family must relocate to a small cottage in the northern countryside. There, in the forest abutting their lands is the Beast's castle. Beauty trades herself for her father because really, she doesn't have that much else to do. You know the story. McKinley writes beautifully and adds several layers of complexity and makes it much more real.

Beauty Sleep: A Retelling of "Sleeping Beauty" by Cameron Dokey

I had to read this for work. While not as good as Beauty, this is still a great one. Dokey has written several retellings, and they're all my to-read list.

We know the set up-- Aurora's parents invite fairies to her christening. The bad fairy isn't invited but shows up anyway and curses Aurora out of spite. Her parents coddle her and keep her away from sharp things but she pricks her finger anyway...

But in this story she doesn't prick her finger. She doesn't fall asleep and weird things start happening. Aurora knows she has to cut herself to save her kingdom, but how? Enter the magical forest...

I'm most looking forward to Dokey's The Storyteller's Daughter which retells Scherezade's story from Arabian Nights.

The Witch's Boy by Michael Gruber

I didn't like this one as much. I didn't like any of the characters. In the end, I think Gruber just tried to work too much in, which just didn't work, because they felt crammed in, like when I put a tiny sliver of a Kraft single into the lasagna just so I can claim it has one more cheese in it... Also, the ending felt really rushed.

What it does have going to for it is the fact that it's a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, and how often do you see that? And, it's more of a "boy book" than most fairy tales re-tellings are. If he had stuck just to Rumpelstiltskin and didn't try to work in every other fairy tale in the Western cannon, I think the book would have been a lot tighter and then the ending wouldn't have to rush so much. Gruber adds a lot of very interesting detail to Rumpelstiltskin's story-- to the point where I didn't realize it was actually a fairy tale retelling and that's where it was going until really deep into the book.

Also, the fact that I didn't like the characters is not the fault of faulty writing-- I wasn't supposed to. On the other hand, if you have a cast of unlikeable people, there has to be something else going on to make me want to finish your book. Lolita has great prose that kept me going, this one... I don't know. The cover's pretty cool though.

I was also going to talk about Jack of Fables: The (Nearly) Great Escape, but the new Fables, Sons of Empire, should be on my doorstep on Wednesday, so I think I'll review the two together then...

Crazy Time

Happy Birthday or Whatever: Track Suits, Kim Chee, and Other Family Disasters by Annie Choi

To paraphrase Tolstoy, Boring families are all alike. Crazy families are crazy in their own way.

And everyone's family is crazy, but it takes a special author to make you, the reader he or she has never met, love their crazy family, laugh at the craziness, and kinda want to hang out with them.

David Sedaris has this special gift. Annie Choi has is in spades. Whether talking about her mother's battle the breast cancer, failing Korean school, or surviving the entire family on New Year's day, Choi will have you squirting milk out your nose with laughter. (Really, my coworkers, who tend to look at me oddly anyway, because, well, most people look at me oddly, were really staring as I laughed hysterically over this book over lunch this past week.)

Trust me on this one and just read it, ok?

Check out the first chapter.

Check out her blog.

Other blog reviews: Welcome to the Confessional

Colin Firth in a wet shirt...

You know how much I love Shannon Hale and she's written a book for us adults! Woo hoo!

This is nothing like her previous work. This is not fantasy in made up lands, but pure chick lit. In her blog when she talks of Austenland, she says,

I truly did not think that this book would ever be published. It was a side project for so many years, just a fun story I kept returning to, quite different from anything else I was writing. It's just so fun to see it coming about. It's just such a gooey chocolate cake of a book for me, a steaming plate of chocolate chip cookies, a carrot pudding with rum sauce.

A gooey chocolate cake of a book is a perfect description. Jane Hayes is a graphic designer in New York and not getting any younger. She can't find a man to live up to the expectations set by one Mr. Colin Firth playing Mr. Darcy in the Pride and Prejudice.

See, this is something I can totally understand. Shannon Hale has a minor Colin Firth obsession. In the acknowledgements she assures her husband "you know this Colin Firth thing isn't really serious... It's just a girl thing, I swear." I'd just like to take this moment to assure my husband the same thing. But he can still give me Colin Firth movies for Christmas, I really won't mind.

Also, I love her dedication: "For Colin Firth-- you're a really great guy, but I'm married, so I think we should just be friends."

If you understand the Colin Firth thing, this is the book for you. If you don't, well then you probably won't get it and might want to skip this one.

So anyway, Jane is hung up on an illusion. When her wealthy great-aunt dies, Jane is left a trip to Penbrook Park, where you can pretend you're living in a Jane Austen novel for three weeks. Jane decides to take it as one last hurrah to kick the Firth habit for good. It'll work, right?

I will warn you, this is completely different than Hale's other books. It doesn't have her normal literary writing style (because, let's face it, chicklit with literary writing style just doesn't work).

That is not to say it isn't good. For those of us who understand the Colin Firth obsession, it's wonderful. I opened it as soon as it arrived on my doorstep, started reading and only stopped to IM my similarly Firth-obsessed friend. We then wished we could go to Penbrook Park and planned all sorts of adventures. It's hilariously funny as well.

Also, this is good chicklit. It's not as straightforward as it could be. I like that Penbrook Park was not as perfect as it sounded and was populated by desperate women. Hale really thought this through and didn't take the easy way out. Because, let's face it, Hale is awesome, even when writing chicklit.

If the words "Colin Firth in a wet shirt" make you swoon, well then, this is the book for you. You'll be googling Penbrook Park in no time to see if it really exists...

Also, check out the letter Ms. Hale sent to Mr. Firth with an ARC...

Other blog reviews: Eclectic Closet, Writing and Ruminating, Bookburger, Estella's Revenge, Mads Reads, A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy, A Novel Idea

FUN GAMES!

I know y'all wanna have some fun... here's how to party Jennie-style:

1. Join Mother Reader's 48 Hour Challenge. Read all weekend guilt-free and maybe win prizes!

2. Play the hidden side of the leaf's Blogroll game-- read more blogs, meet new people and maybe win prizes!

Of course, Summer Reading Programs are starting up around the country. Let me tell you-- Summer Reading isn't just for kids anymore. Many libraries have programs for everyone, birth--really, really, anciently old. Check out your local library and sign up, because do you know what Summer Reading means? Read and get prizes!

Also, in the "feel good" category, yesterday I went to one of the schools near the library to talk up Summer Reading. I also book talked a few books to fill out my presentation. Today one of the kids came in and we had the following conversation:

Her: Can I get those books you talked about yesterday?
Me: Sure, which ones were you interested in?
Her: All of them.
Me: Sweet.

Also, Memorial Day weekend we did a lot of stuff around the house, including rearranging the bookshelves. The upshot is now the books are once again in order! Woot! I'm just waiting for the day when Dan looks oddly at one of the shelves and says Why on earth are computer manuals and fashion guides next to each other? (The answer? BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE THEY FIT!)

Banana Yoshimoto

Banana Yoshimoto is my new favorite author. Her novels are short and straight foward. They're sweet and you may be tempted to read them as a spun-sugar confection, but they're far from it. Her words are well-chosen and her prose, often dealing with grief, mourning, and healing, could easily be described as simple, but it's not. It's just smooth and uncomplicated, even though the emotions she deals with and her characters are not. She doesn't waste words, which makes the words she chooses have all the more impact.

Sometimes, when dealing with translated works, you wonder what's the author and what's the translator? Yoshimoto's work has a very consistent voice even with different translators, so I'm inclined to believe it's her. Still, her work is almost sparse to the point where I wish I read Japanese, so I could fully appreciate her word choices.

Plus, on the completely shallow end of things, her books are physically small enough to fit into my going-out purse for metro reading. Yet they're literary enough to engross me on the trip into town and anyone can judge me on them.

Kitchen (translated by Megan Bakus) is probably her best-known work. I don't know why it took me so long to read this-- I remember being captivated by it and always wanting to get it, yet always choosing something else every time I went down to Canterbury books in high school.

Well, I finally read it this spring. On one hand, I can't believe I waited so long to discover this author. On the other hand, I'm glad I did because I think I'm at a point in my life where I can more fully understand the emotions involved.

This slim book (a mere 150 pages) contains two novellas (which I think might be my new favorite literary form). In the first, Kitchen, Mikage's grandmother (who raised her) passes away and the only place she can find comfort is in the kitchen. She can't sleep except on front of the floor by the refrigerator, the hum acting as a heartbeat almost. She finds refuge with Yuichi and his mother, Eriko. Together the three form a new sort of family that helps her heal--with the help of their kitchen. The second half of the novella takes place after Eriko passes away. This time it's Mikage's turn to help Yuichi heal, of course, with the help of food.

Despite all the death and tragedy, this is more a story of hope than of loss. It is not angst-ridden and not emotionally manipulative. In Kitchen, the characters are searching for comfort and they find it in each other and in food. Love, love, love.

The second novella, considerably shorter, is titled Moonlight Shadow. Satsuki is mourning the loss of her boyfriend, Hitoshi. It's been about a year since he was killed in an traffic accident. They had been dating since they were kids and used to frequently spend time with Hitoshi's brother, Hiirage and his girlfriend Yumiko. Hisoshi was driving Yumiko home the night of the accident and they were both killed.

One morning, while running, Satsuki meets Urara in the park. A strange girl, she tells Satsuki to come back to the bridge on a certain day, at a certain time, to see something special. Urara is that weird blend of realistic mysticism. She's slightly magical (she just intuited Satsuki's phone number) and yet is still realistic... It's hard to explain, but it works in the context of the story. I think it works because Yoshimoto doesn't make a big deal of it. She doesn't make a big deal about a lot in her books, which is what makes them so straight forward.

My favorite character in this story is Hiiragi. Still in high school and dealing with the loss of both his girlfriend and his brother, has taken to wearing Yumiko's sailor-suit dress school uniform every where. When he and Satsuki meet for lunch she says,

I'm stubborn, and I'll probably be dragged even deeper into this darkness, but I have no choice. I must keep living this way. But, as soon as possible, I wanted this boy to be always smiling, like he was now, like he always used to, and without the sailor outfit.

In Goodbye Tsugumi (translated by Michael Emmerich), Maria lives with her mother in the guest house behind the inn run by her Aunt Masako in a small, seaside, tourist town. Her cousin, Tsugumi, is an unpleasant and chronically ill girl Maria's age. Tsugumi is always walking that line between life and death and is Maria's best friend.

Maria's mother has long been her father's mistress. His divorce finally comes through and Maria and her mom move to Tokyo to be with him. Her aunt and uncle decide to sell the inn in order to start a European-style pension in the mountains. Maria returns to the place she grew up for one last summer. There, she and Tsugumi befriend Kyoichi, whose parents are building a large hotel that threatens the business of many of the small inns in town. Complications ensue, but the main story is about whether or not you can come home again and Maria's complicated relationship with her outrageous and just horribly mean cousin.

Tsugumi is an interesting and intriguing character. She can turn from sweet and nice-- the darling of the town-- to a manipulative bee-otch on a dime. Yoshimoto paints her well, and you never fully understand her, but do you ever fully understand anyone in your life? Maria, the narrator, understands Tsugumi more than anyone, but she still doesn't always make sense.

And, of course, there's Yoshimoto's prose, which I love...

I pulled the phone into my room and set it close to my pillow before I went to bed. What if it rings....? In the depth of the night, my sleep was shallow. And all during that ambiguous sleep, within the coming and going fragments of dreams, I continued to fell the existence of that phone. All night it was there, a sensation as cold and unpleasant as a rust mass of iron.

I can't wait to read more of Yoshimoto's books, and she has several others that are all on my list.

Meme!

Ms. Mac at Check it Out tagged me with a meme! I feel so special!

Here it is!

Here are the rules: Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

Here are 8 facts about me.

1. I am a super hard core knitter, even if my knitting blog no longer reflects that reality. (But, I'm hoping that my IT course I have to take this summer will give me an excuse to really play around with it and do some cool things.)

2. I love lists. All kinds of lists. Especially book lists. I print them off and check off the books I've read compulsively.

3. On the color-coded personality typing thing, I'm a gold, with blue undertones. That's a weird combination, let me tell you. Most people peg me for blue. I like my blueness. No one believes me when I tell them I'm actually gold. They think I messed the test up. Then I say, "Dude, I'm a librarian. Who likes cataloging." and they go, "hmmm..."

4. I'm declaring vodka gimlets with a dash of lemon juice to be the official drink of summer.

5. This is something I'm horrified and ashamed to admit: I like Avril Lavigne. I mean, she annoys the heck out of me, but every time she comes out with a new song, I hear it, and I'm like HEY! what a catchy fun song. Not a good song, but a fun song to sing along to on the radio. And then I find out it's her. And I want to cry. But still, Hey! Hey! You! You! I don't like your girlfriend!

6. Summer session of school starts today. On one hand I'm excited for new classes and feel kinda giddy, like in elementary school. On the other hand, cramming an entire semester into 1.5 months just seems zhende lihai and I'm kinda freaked out. Plus, I've been enjoying my last few weeks off and actually, *gasp!* being home in the evening.

7. My favorite pair of shoes are baby pink patent leather with black piping a heel that is at least 3 inches tall. I wear them with my blank pencil skirt and my pink turtleneck sweater and feel like the hottest librarian ever.

8. I make a mean lasagna with up to 12 cheeses. Every time I make it, it's a little test to see how much cheese I can squeeze in that bad boy.

I tag the following people to play:

uhhhhhhh.... anyone who reads this who hasn't done it yet, YOU'RE IT! because I've been sick and am out of the loop.

We'll see how I feel after class. I have a lot of reviews to post that are half written in my head, but haven't had the time to sit down and do them. Seriously. This meme took me like 5 days. Plus, I've been sick. Too sick to be online even. (I know! The horror!)

Find me elsewhere

Hey dudes!

Check out these recent book-related posts I have over at Geek Buffet:

Harry Potter and the BIG FAT SECRET, pt II

Judging People by Their Covers

More book reviews this week, I promise.

In an effort to be more on top of things, instead of always worrying about my backlog of things that need to be reviewed, I'm going to try and get books reviewed as I read them and THEN worry about the backlog. If that makes sense.

So, here's the book I just finished reading last night.

The Last Dragon by Silvana de Mari, translated from the Italian by Shaun Whiteside

Yorshkrunsquarkljolnerstri is the last elf. All the others had been sent to elf-camps, where they starved and froze to death. When the rains came, the remaining elves drowned in the floods. Yorsh's grandmother told him to go. Go, and don't look back.

Navigating a world that hates elves, Yorsh meets two human travelers who protect him, even though it brings them nothing but trouble. While escaping from jail, Yorsh sees a prophesy on a wall and knows it is about him.

Sarja and Monser (the humans) leave Yorsh to care for a dying dragon.

Years later, he and his dragon brother go to fulfill the prophesy...

There's more to it than that, but there is a huge gap in time between the first and second halves of this book and to fully explain the last bit, I'd have to completely ruin the first bit, and we don't want that, do we?

This is the type of story that sounds mundane and hackneyed. Elves. Dragons. Prophesy. Evil Kingdoms. Yawn. But in the hands of de Mari, this is a new, original tale that captivates you. There is a rhythm and lyricism to the prose that is hard to capture in just a single quotation. Yorsh is a wonderful character and even though the book is titled The Last Dragon, it is really Yorsh's tale.

This was a Batchelder honor book this year. The Batchelder is the prize ALA gives for translated works, but for some reason, instead of going to the author or translator, it goes to the publisher. What's up with that?!

This book also made the Cybil's short list!

Other Blog Reviews: Oz and Ends, Rebecca Hogue Wojahn, Becky's Book Reviews, Fairrosa's Reading Journal

Not all the blog reviews are positive. Also, there's a movie with the same name, so it was hard to wade through. I'm sorry if I ever miss anyone...

Recent Reads

Ha! 2 books that I read this month! In fact, 1 of them I read this week!

Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee

I have been accused of being anal retentive, an over-achiever, and a compulsive perfectionist, like those are bad things.

Millicent Min is a genius. It's not that she's just really smart, but certifiably a genius--she's going to be a senior in high school and has started taking classes at the local college. She's 11. She's also lonely--she's in a lot of extra-curriculars at school, but she doesn't have friends. Even in her college class, the other students don't see her as an equal and resent her presence. Other kids her age don't know how to relate to her.

Millicent's mother signed her up for volleyball this summer to try and give her daughter a "normal" childhood. At volleyball, she meets Emily. Emily seems to like her, so Millicent doesn't tell her how smart she is. She wants Emily to see her as a normal kid. As long as she can keep they lies straight, she'll be OK, right?

Lisa Yee has a great character in Millie, who, socially, is a little behind her peers even she's light years ahead of them academically. She's hilarious as she tried to navigate her new friendship with Emily, and friendships are complicated, no matter how smart you are. Yee has written several very believable characters and Millicent is extremely likable. I'm looking forward to reading Stanford Wong Flunks Big-time and So Totally Emily Ebers.

Other blog reviews: Miss Erin, Elizabeth O. Dulemba, The Tired Reader

Rickshaw Girlby Mitali Perkins

So, usually for a book to "count" as part of my have-read list, it has to be at least 100 pages OR have a quality I can't define but call "deep impact". The Big Wave is one such book.

Everyone's already reviewed this one and you other kidlit bloggers are probably familiar with Mitali as she's a frequent commentor and fellow blogger. (How did I NOT know she wrote Monsoon Summer? That's been on my to-read list forever!)

Anyway, I was really excited when this came into the library, because I'm a big fan of Mitali's blog-comments. But then I got really paranoid, because what if I didn't like it? I've told myself I'm going to review every book that I read here, and so I would but I really like Mitali and OH! THE AGONY!

But all the worry was for naught, because I did like it. And it has that elusive "deep impact" even though it's under 100 pages.

So, this is set in modern-day Bangladesh. Naima's father is a rickshaw driver that never gets a rest. She wishes she was a boy, so she would be allowed to help out. She comes up with several grand plans and schemes to possibly help and complications ensue.

I was really intrigued by the turn this book took in the end, because who would've thunk that you could so effectively introduce the concept of micro-finance to the middle-reader set?

Also, the pictures not only perfectly compliment, but really add to the story.

Check out other reviews at: My Blog, Fuse #8, Planet Esme, Phantom Scribbler, Brookeshelf, Info Dad, Readers Rants,

Poetry Friday

Sonnet XLIII

What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,
I have forgotten, and what arms have lain
Under my head till morning; but the rain
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh
Upon the glass and listen for reply,
And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain
For unremembered lads that not again
Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.
Thus in winter stands the lonely tree,
Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,
Yet knows its boughs more silent than before:
I cannot say what loves have come and gone,
I only know that summer sang in me
A little while, that in me sings no more.

--Edna St. Vincent Millay

Sequels I've Neglected--Kid Lit

So, you know how when you are totally in love with a series and you pre-order the next volume as soon as possible and then just kinda drop everything to read it when it comes through the door? Please tell me I am not the only person like this.

Anyway, here are some books that fall in that category. I read these most of these day they came out. I'm just slow to talk about them.

The Last Apprentice: Curse of the Bane by Joseph Delaney.

Ok, I didn't preorder this. But I totally pre-reserved it at the library. If anything, this book is scarier, creepier, and grosser than the first one. And possibly even better.

Thomas Ward and the Spook are off to Priestown (which, as you can imagine, is a town full of Priests, and they're never fans of Spooks). The Bane is an evil thing that crushes its victims flat and is starting to control the minds of the people living near its prison, in the catacombs underneath the church. Thomas and the Spook need to finish it once and for all, but the Spook has tried, and failed before.

Oh, and they're going to be hanged for being Spooks. All in a days work!

Regarding the Bathrooms: A Privy to the Pastby Kate Klise

Ok, once again, something I pre-reserved. I only have so much bookshelf space people!

The kid's in Sam N's class are back. It's summer, and they've all found jobs. Marriages are on the rocks, international crime rings seemingly have ties to Geyser Creek and deep secrets of the past are uncovered. Probably the best book in this series since the first one.

The Sisters Grimm: Once Upon a Crime by Michael Buckley

When we last saw Sabrina, Daphne, Puck & Co., Puck's wings had been torn off and he was dying. SO! The family makes its way to New York City, the heart of the Faerie Kingdom so Puck can get well...

It turns out that Veronica Grimm (before she went missing) was a hero here. Sabrina is NOT HAPPY to find this out. She is angrier than ever. Then, King Oberon is found poisoned and an innocent Faerie is blamed. Sabrina wants out of the game, and Grandma Grimm lets her quit, but now Daphne won't talk to her...

This is one of my favorites in the series. The change of locale and new cast of characters keeps the scenario from getting repetitive and old. Also, it's not often that you see the cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream making fractured appearances in children's literature. Where it's funnier if you're familiar with the play, it still works for people who haven't read or seen it (and I think most of the target audience falls into this category).

I also love the introduction of the Godfathers. More Mafia than turning pumpkins into coaches, they're brilliant. As is Bluebeard as a Wall Street financier. Once again, all jokes that younger readers aren't going to fully understand, but it's not only for adults.

The changing and evolving relationship between Sabrina and Daphne is one of the best, and most subtle, parts of this series, and this is a good volume (if less subtle) in that regard.

And yes, I've already pre-ordered Magic and Other Misdemeanors

Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now by Lauren Child

This hasn't even been published in the US yet, but Amazon will obtain a UK copy for you.

Clarice has some bigger worries in this latest installment (and more pages in which to explore them! yippee!) It's still zany and fun and silly and everything you love about Clarice, but also deeper and older. Betty moves away and everyone's cranky and she's so worried and anxious about everything that she's not sleeping anymore, which isn't helping with school. There's a new girl, Clem, and everyone seems to love her, but Clarice doesn't trust her at all.

There's still a lot of Ruby, a lot more of Marcie (as she's back from France) and less of Minal Cricket. A must read for Clarice fans.

Sequels I've Neglected--YA and Adult

I split this into 2 posts, because I had so much tagging to do, Blogger couldn't handle it. Ah well.

River Secrets by Shannon Hale

In this sequel to The Goose Girl and Enna Burning, we return to Bayern. Just because the war is over, doesn't mean there is peace between Bayern and Tira. Isi's going to the Tiran capital on a peace mission and Enna is as well.

But really, this is Razo's book. He's always considered himself rather useless because of his small size, so he's more than surprised when he's asked to be part of the elite band of soldiers accompanying them. He's going to be a spy.

Once in Tira, someone is burning people and Enna is being blamed. It's up to Razo to figure out who's framing his friend and trying to restart the war.

I am always surprised by Hale's amazing skill to paint an entire landscape, people and culture perfectly in a mere few sentences. Her lyrical language and voice is back and this latest installment, while shorter, is just as strong as her earlier works.

Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood Ann Brashares

The girls are apart this summer, each spread to her far corner of the globe. The plot is less compelling than the previous volumes, but Brashares really hits some truths right on the head. The girls changed in college. I have big problem with books that follow their characters to college and they stay exactly the same. College changes you. You lose yourself and find yourself and that's a big part of it! Also, the way Tibby reacts to her pregnancy scare was more true and real than anything I've seen in print. I think she's milked all she can out of this series, but this final volume, where it won't be the favorite of younger fans, just might be the favorite of the grown-ups who like the series, for it's unflinching realism.

Adrian Mole And the Weapons of Mass Destruction by Sue Townsend

(full disclosure: I just found out this existed.)

Adrian is a poxy, neurotic, and hilarious as ever. Glenn's in the army. William's in Nigeria with JoJo and Adrian's back living with his parents and working at a used book store. He buys a loft apartment with a convenience check from his credit card that sends him into a debt spiral that only Adrian could ignore. Somehow (this is Adrian) he's been talked into marrying a manipulative hypochondriac, even though he's in love with her sister.

Oh, and there's a war going on! Could Blair be mistaken about the weapons? And if so, how will Adrian get his Cypriot holiday deposit back.

Oh Adrian, we missed you. Glad to have you back.

Misty Peppers

POPCORN!

10 points to anyone who gets that.

Keeping with the theme of random, here are some books I haven't reviewed yet. That's today's theme. I really need to catch up. I didn't start keeping notes until January and I'm still facing a backlog since September, so these are kinda short, because my memory isn't that long. Still, you get the last impression of a book. OK-- I've started writing this post. The "theme" has been narrowed a wee bit. These are all YA books that I liked. Not shout-from-the-roof-tops-love, but really enjoyed and liked.

Doing It by Melvin Burgess

This is hilarious, but not nearly as frothy-fun as I was expecting it to be. The basic premise is a bunch of British boys trying to get laid. One of them ends up boinking his teacher. One is obsessed with finding some action for Mr. Knobby Knobster. Burgess injects a lot of humor into this, but it's not the male equivelent of Georgia Nicolson. There are real issues here that are seriously dealt with, but it's not angst-ridden.

Eva Underground by Dandi Daley Mackall

This is a really interesting book about a teenager whose father is an organizer for the Polish Underground, so they move to Poland so he can, um, organize. It's a great look at fitting in to a new culture as well as life behind the Iron Curtain. I think it will really spark some further research in some readers, as you're never sure quite *when* it takes place until JPII gets elected Pope and everyone in Poland is super-excited. There were a few minor details that got me though-- one is a type towards the end where the printer switched Krakow and Warsaw, so that page made NO sense. The other is that she misses hanging out at Abercrombie and Fitch, even though that really wasn't a mall store until the late 90s. Just saying. Still, an awesome book.

Yellow Line by Sylvia Olsen

This is the first book I've read put out by Orca Soundings. This is a hi/lo line of books (high content level, low reading level). I was really surprised by how good it was. Vince lives in Pacific Canada in a small town near a First Nations reservation. The two ethnic groups (White and First Nation) segregate themselves everywhere-- in living, on the school bus. One on each side of a yellow line. Because this is a short book, things happen fast. Vince's friend and cousin, Sherry, starts dating someone who's First Nation. Vince develops a crush on a girl who is. The parents and some of Vince's friends are literally violently opposed to this idea. The plot comes quickly and there isn't a lot of character development, but it still sheds enough light on a heady topic and situation.

Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings

This is really well written and is on several people's shout-off-the-roof list. The plot and characters just didn't grab me. I'm not sure why. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood the afternoon I read it. Anyway, Brady lives on the northern shore of the Chesapeake Bay. There are new people moving in, new development and McMansions going up. Fishing is threatened. Brady befriends the D'Angelo family, part of the new wave of people coming in. Brady's friends play an awful joke that ends in tragedy. Brady is then torn between doing the right thing and snitching on his friends. It's really well-done and not over-wrought, but still gives the situation the gravitas it needs.

Invisible by Pete Hautman

Dougie is a loner, an outcast, and really, a bit of a weirdo freak. His best friend Andy is athletic and popular. They don't hang out a lot at school but the next-door neighbors talk every night through their bedroom windows. It becomes apparent really quickly that Dougie is not the most reliable of narrators and there's something else going on. Or is it just that with YA fiction we now expect some sort of massive sixth-sense type twist? It was a good book, but I knew something was up way before it was revealed, so the last half of the book I was just thinking what's going on already?!

5 books in one post. And the grocery store now has cherries, so I know where I'm going after work.

Yes, my dinner tonight will be cheese and cherries and bread with olive oil. Yummy. I can't wait.

Fictionalized Biographies

Returning to some more kidlit and sticking with the biography theme of the last week or so, here are two interesting books by E. L. Konigsburg (my readers who don't read a lot of kidlit will know her as the author of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.)

In these books, Konigsburg has taken mountains of historical research and turned it into a story based on the life of a famous person.

First up, we have A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver. This book is, to say the least, quirky. The frame of the story is that Eleanor of Aquitaine is hanging out in heaven. Now, after she died, she didn't go Up right away, but the world's poets and musicians plead her case and she's been there for 800 years. Her second husband, Henry II has had to wait even longer. Today is his judgment day (even though he died before she did). Lawyers are pleading the case for Henry (who laid the foundation for England's legal system) and well, it takes awhile to get enough lawyers in heaven.

So, Eleanor is hanging out on a cloud with Abbot Suger, Matilda-Empress (Henry's mom) and William the Marshal (a knight) waiting to see if Henry will come Up. While they are waiting, Eleanor's friends each tell a tale about the period of Eleanor's life they were involved in. The last tale is hers. The story is well-done and the historical detail spot-on. The framing works, but only because Konigsburg is a genius. Immediately after finishing, I wanted to know more about this woman, so I also read Eleanor of Aquitaine and the High Middle Ages. (This is not getting reviewed, because, as a rule, I tend to only review things that have over 100 pages, and this doesn't, but it was a great supplemental material.)

Next up is the more straight-forward, and yet more imagined, The Second Mrs. Gioconda. In this tale, Konigsburg takes just a few mentions of Salai in Da Vinci's notebooks and turns it into a fascinating look at what might have been. Salai, we know, is a thief, but for some reason, Da Vinci paid his sister's dowry and left him a house in his will. And this is all we know.

In this story, Konigsburg shows Salai as Da Vinci's apprentice, enjoying the boy's cheekiness. We learn of Da Vinci's day to day life, and the joy of being a court painter. Then Beatrice, the new duchess enters their lives, and everything changes. This book explores a possibility behind the Mona Lisa, the painting itself is a small mention at the end, the tale is really about the friendships between these three people and how they changed each other's lives. This is a tale of real people--angry people in love, jealous people, stressed out people. But good people trying to make the most out of their lives at the same time, and trying to find beauty in the everyday.

I've never seen such a wonderful meditation on beauty, especially for the middle-to-YA-reader set. Very well done.

Tehran in pictures...

Totally NOT book related, but Bebel Gilberto's new CD, Momento, is fan-freaking-tastic. It's her best to date and if you like chill modern bossa nova Brazilian rthyms, you need to check it out.

Next up on the biography front, we have Marjane Satrapi's graphic autobiographies.

And I mean "graphic" and the graphic novel sense, not in the lots of nekkid people and blood 'n' guts sense.

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood is a wonderful graphic novel about growing up in Iran during the revolution. Growing up in a radical family descended from the royal family, Satrapi and her parents initially support the revolution to over throw the Shah. Of course, revolutions can go astray and what they originally demonstrated for and supported turned into religious fundamentalism they couldn't stomach.

As if that weren't enough, the Iran-Iraq war bring new horrors as Tehran is continually bombed and friends are killed.

Satrapi paints her world and life with people who are real and sympathetic--something we don't often see in Western views and stories on Iran. It also fills in the shades of gray on a country and issue so often portrayed in black and white.

Satrapi's art is black and white, which large blocks of black fill, leaving a minimilist, stark image. Her writing perfectly captures how she felt as a child. Despite the bleakness surrounding her, Satrapi maintains humor and minor acts of rebellion that make us love her.

She follows up with Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return. This traces her life in Vienna, trying to fit into a new culture and language. She mentions her experiences with racism, but tends not to dwell on them, making them all the more poignant, because they just jump out at you and then disappear, much like, I imagine, the actual acts themselves. About halfway through the novel, she returns to Tehran. In Austria, she was too Iranian. In Iran, she's too Western. Her struggle to fit in both places is heart breaking. If you liked the first one, you have to read this one.

Because I'm rambling about Satrapi, I also read her book Embroideries. This is just an after-dinner conversation with Iranian women (mostly her mother or grandmother's age) talking about their sex lives-- a nice little companion to her other work. This is a fun look at how even under the veil, people and sex aren't that different the world over. (The title comes from the re-virginization procedure.)

So, this has been an adult-like few posts. Here's some kidlit content for y'all:

The new issue of The Edge of the Forest is up and I have a review of The Whole Sky Full of Stars, which is YA.

Also, I'm rambling about Harry Potter over at Geek Buffet.

OH! And I'm looking for recommendations of publishing blogs, so let me have 'em!

Haiku Friday

My life this past week has involved the following:

A very mature debate about Professor Snape that contained about five minutes of

"is not!"
"is too!"
"is not!"
"is too!"

Thanking the greater good that Southbound and Northbound 395 are two separate structures which meant that while I was northbound, I got to see Her Royal Majesty's most giant of all motorcades instead of being stopped in all the blocked traffic while she was southbound.

Finishing my first year of library school...

Talking wedding plans with my baby sister.

There was some other stuff too, but it's a bit of a big blur.

But it's Friday! So here's a poem!

Well, actually some haiku about my life lately:

Why do children think
Running in the library
Is appropriate?

Everyone I know
Is going to have a baby
Makes me feel skinny

School's out for summer!
School's out forever!
By which I mean until June

ok, that messed with form a bit. whatever.

A Rare Glimpse into a Closed Country

Everyone grab your to-read lists. It's OK. I'll wait.

Got 'em? Have a pencil? pen? crayon?

Write down this title in your number one slot for books that need to be read now:
This is Paradise! by Hyok Kang with Phillipe Grangereau translated from the orginal French by Shaun Whiteside.

First of all, let me thank Lotus Reads for bringing this book to my attention.

Kang grew up in the last 80s and 90s in North Korea. Originally, his family was relatively well off because they had chosen to stay in North Korea instead of being repatriated to Japan. In addition to receiving funds from Japanese relatives, they were favored by the North Korean leadership for their patriotism in staying.

The book starts covering general day to day life. By Western standards, the rich Kang family is poor. Kang talks about day to day life-- how he often slept at his grandparents house, what he thought of his teachers, what he learned in school. You learn about the rigid hierarchy imposed on the students and their uniforms and what the different badges mean, both officially and unofficially in the school yard.

Then, the famine starts. Kang's family's wealth is slowly drained away. His disillusionment grows-- he starts writing alternate lyrics to patriotic songs. Lyrics that, if found out, would get him and his family killed. School stops being about learning and starts being about farming government fields with food that they will never see unless the steal it in the dead of night (which Kang does). They hunt rats and eat tree bark and grass. Hanging out with your friends involves going to their house to say your final goodbyes as they slowly and horribly starve to death. (Kang estimates around 75% of his classmates died during these years.)

Executions are common place. Bodies are padded so the blood doesn't spray the crowd. During the winter, the bodies steam. People are eating the dead in order to survive-- people are killing each other in order to eat them.

In 1998, the family escapes to China. You know things are bad when China is a rich paradise. Kang couldn't believe that, in China, people at rice every day. Being in China doesn't help-- they constantly fear the police who will deport them back to North Korea where they will all face execution.

They eventually escape to South Korea, where the full effect of the lies Kang had been fed came to the surface. His anger at being brainwashed, his not wanting to believe the South Korean truth, even though he knew it was right, is the most striking part of this book.

I can hear you say right now: What?! It's his anger that moved you? Not the cannibalism? All I can say is that I am a student of twentieth-century Chinese history. Kang's experiences during the famine didn't surprise me. They were tragic and awful and turned my stomach, but they weren't new. It was the horror I was expecting. The difficulties of coming to grips with the lies you believed and fitting in with a "modern" culture was shocking and heartbreaking.

I was struck by an odd sense of detachment Kang seemed to have throughout this book. It could be that it was his story as told to someone. It could be the translation either from Kang's Korean to Grangereau's French or from the French to the English. What I think though is it's because that this was his life and he didn't know anything different or he can't emotionally involve himself for the sake of mental health-- this boy lived through Hell.

What really brings this book alive, however, is Kang's illustrations. He's an extraordinarily gifted artist and his drawings of his life bring the story to life in a very real way.

This is not an easy, nor pleasant read, but there are very few first-hand accounts coming out of North Korea, and I think this is an important book that should be read by anyone who can stomach it. It's real life, so hopefully you will all make the effort.

Read an excerpt here.

Also check out North Korean Economy Watch because it's written by my friend Curtis who not only is awesome, but has been to North Korea several times.

More Biographies

And more bios!

Writing biographies for children has to be difficult. You need to faithfully tell of someone's life, while still being mindful of possible content issues. Then, there are the issues of writing nonfiction for children in general-- being mindful of your audience without talking down to them. The standard bearer for children's biographies is the wonderful Newbery winner, Lincoln by Russell Freedman.

Some of these books hit the mark, and some don't-- all the subjects are people I hadn't previously read a biography of.

First up, Winston Churchill: Soldier, Statesman, Artist> by John B. Severance.

This was a good introduction to a complex man who lived through, and led England through, a very complex time. Unfortunately, a lot of these complexities are glossed over with gross understatements such as, "Churchill loved cigars and brandy" (p65) the only mention of his love of alcohol. A lot of these more fascinating aspects aren't explored in ways I feel they could have been.

Still, I learned some fun things-- Churchill's mom was American (gasp!) and, when he was young, he was quite the looker.

The book contains lots of wonderful photographs to support the text and a great section at the end of some of Churchill's most memorable quotations.

I also must mention because it is my blog, and my pet peeve, that this book uses the term "Britishers" instead of my preferred "Britons" or "the British".

There Ain't Nobody That Can Sing Like Me: The Life of Woody Guthrie by Annie Neimark

This book is a great example of how to write a biography for children of someone who's life content might not be suitable for younger readers. Blackballing! Multiple Wives! Adultery! Alcoholism! Mental Illness! all dealt with in a sensitive manner without whitewashing the facts.

A compassionate and honest biography of a troubled man that changed America. It also has a great section of lyrics and uses Guthrie's lyrics well to introduce each chapter.

Fascinating and well done.

The Brothers Grimm: Two Lives, One Legacy by Donald R. Hettinga

This is another well done book, this time about the Brothers Grimm and how they gathered the German folktales we now attribute to them. This book did two things exceptionally well-- it used illustrations to complement the text, which is hard when writing about a time period before the camera. It also used language to its advantage-- the beginning, especially, read like a fairy tale.

It also well-explained a very confusing time in European history. Their corner of Western Germany continually changed hands between the French and Germans. This book discussed the confusion, the realities of living in a nineteenth century war zone, as well as the political tensions of the time very well and in a very accessible manner.

Also! Did you know that Grimm's law, which is really a big part of comparative linguistics was named after Jakob Grimm of the Brothers Grimm? Because I sure didn't!

The Queen!

I'm spinning DC library conspiracy theories over at Geek Buffet check it out if you want more insight into my paranoia.

But, in happier news, Her Royal Majesty, the Queen of England is here! And my friend Cathy met her! As in was actually introduced and exchanged pleasantries met her!

And, in honor of that, we're kicking off what I hope will be biography week here at Biblio File. We'll see what happens, because in Jennie-land, it's also finals week, so you know that's a good blend. ;)

But, our first biography is The Little Princesses by Marion Crawford.

In what was probably the first royal tell-all written by a former staff member, Crawford (nanny and governess to Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret) paints a loving portrait of two young girls, one of whom would grow up to be Queen. It's hard to imagine that this book, which is has very little negative information would create the uproar it did when first published-- the princesses never forgave Crawford and never spoke with her again.

The book is charming and a very positive look at Elizabeth and Margaret-- Crawford cared for them very much indeed. Large portions of the book are spent rebutting views taken in the media about the girls. I think the section about them at a "secret, undisclosed location" during the war is one of the most interesting. As are the stories of getting Elizabeth's wedding trousseau ready during fabric rationing.

The other interesting tidbits are Crawford's opinions of the various palaces and castles they lived in, as well as the reality of working for the royal family (like realizing you literally don't have anything appropriate to wear and can't afford anything either.) Crawford started working of the Duke of York before he became King and the suddenness, surprise and upheaval it caused was rather unexpected-- both for the family and the reader. The tale ends before Elizabeth's coronation.

Although it has no juicy gossip or scandalous insights, it does paint an interesting picture of a family and a time period. I'm not a big royal watcher, but I did thoroughly enjoy this book.

Neglected Awesomeness

Ok, so here are some books that I should have talked about a long time ago but didn't for whatever reason, which is too bad because they really deserve more time than I can give them because my memory is faulty and I read most of these before I started writing down my thoughts right away. Maybe one day I'll catch up? I doubt it.

Anyway, the books!

Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie... Man, I read this back in August-- that's how behind I am! *Wail*

Anyway, Haroun's father is a storyteller, one of the greatest. He tells Haroun his stories come from the Sea of Stories, they come in dreams. One day, his father stops telling stories, the sea has dried up. Haroun travels to the Sea of Stories, to find it has been polluted. He has to save the sea to save his father...

This is the only Rushdie I've read so far, so I can't say how it compares to his more adult titles, but the language and imagery used in this put all of his other work on my "to read" list. How can you not get sucked in with sentences like this:

He looked into the water and saw that it was made up of a thousand thousand thousand and one different currents, each one a different colour, weaving in and out of one another like a liquid tapestry of breathtaking complexity; and Iff explained that these were the Streams of Story, that each coloured strand represented and contained a single tale.

In addition to the language and imagery, this is just a plain, good story and a great adventure. If you haven't read it, hop to it. You won't regret it.

Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier

Regular readers will know that I love a good culture clash story-- immigrants coming to the US, children of immigrants torn between two cultures...

Born Confused is one of the best I've read. Not only is Dimple Lala torn between trying to be a good Indian daughter and being just a normal American teen, but she has the usual best friend issues, boy issues, and mother-daughter issues.

So, there's the best friend, who is white and is trying to co-opt Dimple's culture (in Dimple's view). There is the boy, that her parents tried to set her up with, so she rejected out of hand and the best friend was interested in... and then Dimple realizes how awesome he is...

There's the Indian cousin studying in the US who's living with her American-born Indian girlfriend and both are exploring Desi culture...

An American-Indian drag queen...

And some rocking bhangra beats.

Plus, language like this, when Dimple is drunk and trying not to puke in the car on the way home:

Then I thought of snow, that particular silence of its falling, blanketing... The whole forked street in white star-crusted stillness. (Also, I've tried this while drunk-- it works surprisingly well...)

More choice selections:

The music ended and hissed in that secret space between song and needle life; the arm settled into place and the record spun slowly to a stop, like a tire on a fallen bicycle.

He whispered tiny breezes into my ear, a current and an undertow.

Of course, 500 pages of this can get heavy and oppressive, but it doesn't all read like this, but what could have easily been a light teen novel turns into something more with passages like these.

My favorite is:

We'd been having such an incredible conversation and it was all down the drain now, like an idea for a poem you catch in bed, you promise yourself you'll remember, sing yourself to sleep with it and then wake to find you couldn't clasp it close enough and it stayed in your dream and now you're not there anymore and you might never have the same dream again.

What I love about this (besides the truth and the language of it) is that it's hopeful-- there is the hope that you might have the same dream again. I love that.

In the nonfiction front is Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption by Laura J. Miller

Tyler Cowan had a great article about this book in Slate last May that lead me to read the book. I don't agree with all of Tyler's assertions, but that's the former indie bookstore employee in me. And I don't practice what I preach-- most of my book buying is from Amazon.

Anyway, Miller offers a great history of bookselling in America that is very interesting-- many of the horror stories we hear today were around in the 1920s and 1930s. Many of the genre wars (chick lit doesn't count as real books etc) have been around all century...

But what I really love about this book are some of the ideas it raises that I'm still mulling over. One is the inherent contradiction involved in the selling of books-- are books ideas and culture? or are they product? Can they really be both? Can we really sell ideas at a steep discount?

If books are so treasured that we fund libraries, that give them away for free, how can they be merchandised and sold like tuna fish?

There's also a great chapter on the politics of consumption and how this notion started the Revolutionary War.

Now, I have no background in sociology or economics, so a lot of this book was slow going for me. But I like the ideas it raised-- I finished this in November and I'm still pondering these things.