Book Review: The Help

This was a beautiful story.  Aibileen and Minny are both black, and work as domestic help in Jackson Mississippi in the early 1960s. The stage for this novel is the civil rights movement and while much has changed since slavery much has remained the same in this corner of the United States. Miss Skeeter has just graduated from Ole Miss and returns to Jackson to find her home changed forever. A friendship is formed between these women based on a common enemy and an eventual shared vision of what the future could be. The characters are believable and the author has done a fantastic job of writing in these different voices. I devoured the story and just plain adored these characters. I loved Aibileen for her kindness and caring, Minny for her feistiness and Skeeter for her ability to see beyond herself. Such a lovely and really, important, novel.

Book Review: The Deep Blue Sea for Beginners

This was a charming little novel, well written in many ways but a smidge on the simplistic side. Ok, well more than a smidge. Deep Blue Sea is a story of two sisters separated from their mother, Lyra, for ten years. Post the death of their father, from a brain tumor no less, sixteen year old Pell decides it's time to go to the Italian island where Lyra has been hiding / vacationing and bring her back.  While offering some really interesting nuggets of wisdom the book does make 16 and 14 year olds, Pell and Lucy, wise, capable, wealthy, forgiving, etc. beyond on their years. They really aren't overly believable as characters. And okay, I know Lyra has some mental illness issues but on the other hand she made some really bad choices, you wanted to smack her up the head. I don't often feel that way about novel characters, but yeah, I did. Maybe it's just that she seems not real because her choices are SO irrational. Also it does seem that between this family, the family that's the girls' main support back home and Lyra's friends on the island, there is an inordinate amount of tragedy befalling everyone. How many tragic pasts can there be in one novel? That being said, I did quite enjoy as I read it. In fact I read it over the course of one Sunday afternoon and part of the evening (it is a quick read.) Think of it as brain candy and you too can be entertained for a short time. But if you try to delve too deeply into content, themes and metaphor you'll start to become annoyed.

Book Review: Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

It's late, I don't have enough brain power to write a coherent review. But it's good, I have loved reading it, and you will too. I've listened to the audio book version and it's been delightfully read by a British fellow, which only adds to the experience. Wickedly funny in parts but also deep and moving and human. An awesome summer read.

Busy Times

Way back at the start of this month I vowed to do what made me happy which obviously includes photo taking and scrapbooking. And this is the first layout I've done since New Years! That is a really long stretch for me, 21 days, crazy.

 

However, I have been busy, but in a good way. Darrel and I designed our new kitchen, the cabinets have been purchased and we are even thinking about installing them sooner rather than later. I've been pretty busy with yearly planning for Young Womens. It seems like at the start of the year there is so much to do. I have also started working three hours a week for MacEwan. This is mainly to pay for my beloved photography course that I will attend in March (and some of those kitchen cabinets!). Julie is teething like crazy so is taking more attention than her normal happy self. On the bright side, I get a lot of reading done as I cuddle and nurse her. I've reread two of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and just started the third. Such a good series! I read it again every few years and fall in love with Jaime and Claire all over again. Sigh. At parts a bit racy, so read at your own discretion, this is what good historical romance/adventure fiction should be. Fabulous.

Also read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See which I would highly recommend. She is one of those authors that can write fiction that is set in another time and place and make you feel like you are living there. Her description of the process of foot binding will put chills down your spine. Yikes. It really does make you wonder if people looking back on our society in 200 years will read descriptions of botox and face lifts and shudder with the same kind of repulsion.

Book Review #4 - "Belong to Me" by Marisa de los Santos

**Warning** This book review contains a spoiler, albeit a small one, but if you hate knowing any of the ending of a book, just let me tell you that this is the best book I've read in years and now stop reading my blog and go out immediately, get this book and devour it.

This is a fabulously written book. I am in love with this book. This is the kind of book you go out and buy a copy of, even though you've already read it -you simply have to have a copy in your own personal possession. This is the kind of book that you almost don't want to read too fast, because you can't bear for it to end.

The novel centers on the lives of three very different women, Cornelia, Lake and Piper. At times heartbreaking, it is at the same time a very funny book. What really makes this book though is that de los Santos can just plain write. Her descriptions are so accurate and beautiful. Without reaching or trying to hard she captures the human experience perfectly. As I was reading I kept thinking, "this is the passage I want to post on my blog". By then end I had about 20 different passages marked. What I will share is from the end of the novel where Cornelia is describing the birth of her child. (Lily, this is dedicated to you as you are so soon to go through this experience again. When I read this I thought, yes this is exactly how it is.)

"What struck be about the rest of it was how little I mattered. A vehicle, a means, of someone else's act of becoming. If that sounds like a complaint, it isn't one. All I'm saying is that, from the very first push, I saw to what end I labored, not delivery, depositing a gift to me and Teo on the doorstep of our lives, but deliverance, the baby freed, pushed loose and streaming, like God, into the world.

The first time I looked at the face of my child, I didn't think "my child." I made no claims. Transported by awe to someplace way past tenderness, I was courteous and grave, one fierce creature greeting another, newly arrived. Then Teo said, "Our daughter, Cor, our little girl," and -wham -I bought the complete package:tenderness, yes; devotion and longing, euphoria and despair; ache and work and rage and boundless gratitude. My girl and I got it backward, backward and right. She did the claiming. I was delivered, unto her. "You are mine," she cried, her hands reaching for my face, and nothing was ever more true."

Book Review #2 -"The Girls" by Lori Lansens

Okay, I'm starting over with the numbering of my books reviews, (which I hope to do more of -as a side note I'm trying to get away from only posting things about my kids, I do have interests and activities that don't 100% focus on them), so this is number two for 2009.

This book is the story of Rose and Ruby Darlen, conjoined twins born during a rural Ontario tornado in 1974. Rose decides to write her (their) autobiography and Ruby adds her "touching two cents worth" along the way. I am fascinated with Lansens ability to write a book with two narrators that have such authentically different voices. Rose and Ruby are very different people, and even without the change in typeface you could tell who was speaking about two lines into a change of narrator.

From the first chapter: "I have never looked into my sister's eyes. I have never bathed alone. I have never stood in the grass at night and raised my arms to a beguiling moon. I've never used an airplane bathroom. Or worn a hat. Or been kissed like that. I've never driven a car. Or slept through the night. Never a private talk. Or solo walk. I've never climbed a tree. Or faded into a crowd. So many things I've never done, but oh, how I've been loved. And, if such things were to be, I'd live a thousand lives as me, to be loved so exponentially. My sister, Ruby, and I, by mishap or miracle, having intended to divide from a single fertilized egg, remained joined instead, by a spot the size of a bread plate on the sides of our twin heads. We're known to the world medical community as the oldest surviving craniopagus twins (we are twenty-nine years old) and to millions around the globe, those whose interest in people like us is more than just passing, as conjoined craniopagus twins Rose and Ruby Darlen of Baldoon County. We've been called many things: freaks, horrors, monsters, devils, witches, retards, wonders, marvels. To most, we're a curiosity. In small-town Leaford, where we live and work, we're just "the Girls"'.

There are some heart breakingly tender moments in this novel. I love that Rose, looking back on her life events can be objective about some of the things that happened. Looking with adult eyes on what she saw and experienced, she recognizes that she doesn't have all the information, doesn't understand all the nuances of relationships, and just decides to move on. I also love that while she is fairly practical and smart she doesn't clue into the reality of some situations until Ruby (who is more fanciful in some ways), points out her naivete.

It is a lesson for us all that while Rose and Ruby can almost read the others' thoughts, can feel eachothers' heartbeats and are constantly together they still misunderstand one another at times. I've thought about this quite a bit over the last couple of days, that really as human beings it is almost impossible to truly know a person, each man really is an island, (was it Johnson or Donne who said that?) But despite this, it is possible to be loved exponentially. Overall, a really well written book.

Book Review #?

My Husband's Sweethearts by Bridget Asher




It's been a long time since I have posted a book review on my blog...not sure why, life is busy I guess. Plus a lot of my reading of late has been murder mysteries, not really review material. Soon after finishing this book (at 1am) I knew I wanted to post about it.

Here's the synopsis from the publisher:

"When Lucy discovered that her charming, cheating husband was dying, she came home, opened up his little black book, and decided she wasn’t going through this alone. After all, Artie’s sweethearts were there for the good times—is it fair that Lucy should have to manage the hard times herself? In this wise, wickedly funny new novel, Lucy dials up the women in Artie’s black book and invites them for one last visit. The last thing she expects is that any will actually show up.

But one by one, they do show up: The one who hates him. The one who owes her life to him. The one he turned into a lesbian, and the one he taught to dance. And among them is a visitor with the strangest story of all: the young man who may or may not be Artie’s long-lost son.

For Lucy, the jaw-dropping procession of women is an education in the man she can’t forgive and couldn’t leave. And as the women find themselves sharing secrets and sharing tears, they start to discover kindred spirits—and even something that’s a lot like family. But Lucy knows one thing for certain: the biggest surprises are yet to come….

Full of heart, Bridget Asher’s unforgettable novel is about mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and the deep friendships between women. It’s about sweet liars and tenderhearted cheaters—about loving those we love for reasons we can’t always fully rationalize, and about the sort of forgiveness that can change someone’s entire life in the most unexpected and extraordinary ways."

I thought the book started off a little slow but by about page 50 I couldn't put it down. I spent the rest of the evening, and half of the night reading it. Asher's characters really do live up to the hype from the publisher, they are real people with big decisions to make about love, forgiveness and moving on. I ended up feeling for all of them, the cheated-on wife, the drug addict former mistress, the bitter older woman, even the crazy mother, and even adulterous Artie. Overall, a really good read.

Book Review #6: Austenland by Shannon Hale

This novel was a thoroughly enjoyable light read. The premise is that Jane Hayes is a seemingly normal young New Yorker, but she has a secret. Her obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, is ruining her life. No real man can compare.

When a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen crazed women, Jane's fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become realer than she ever could have imagined.

Quite witty and entertaining, I'd definitely reccommend this one if you are at all a fan of Pride and Prejudice.

Book Review #5: The Know-It-All -One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World

Okay, I'm not done this book yet but I simply had to post a review as I am having a hoot reading it. Esquire editor A.J. Jacobs sets out to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica in one year, cover to cover. The result is a very entertaining book. The chapters are organized by letter of the alphabet and as he reads you get to learn little known facts starting with the letter du jour.

Here's some excerpts:

Cleveland
I had always figured the Ohio town was named for Grover Cleveland. No, the real story is that it was named for moses Cleaveland, an employee of the Connecticut Land Company, who arrived with his surveyors in 1796. His mission was to speed up the sale of land in Ohio, and in his honor, the town was called Cleaveland.

That day must ahve been the proudest day in the life of this real estate salesman. No doubt he wrote a letter to his mom:"Dear Mother, the family name shall not be forgotten. There is a town in this fair state of Ohio that bears the glorious name of our family, the magnificent Cleaveland!"

Then in 1832, the a in "Cleaveland" was dropped because "Cleveland" fit better on a newspaper masthead. That was the reason. His name was bastardized to fit a newspaper's masthead? they couldn't have reduced the font? did they consider changing "Ohio" to "Ohi"? That would have saved some ink, too.

Fame is a fleet-footed hussy. It's not the most shocking lesson I've learned, but it sure gets driven home every day. I've learned of hundreds of people who were huge in their time, adored by millions, but now totally forgotten except by freaks who read the encyclopedia. And even if your name is remembered, it'll probably be spelled or pronounced incorrectly. Cleaveland can have a support group meeting with Dutch explorer Cornelius Mey, for whom Cape May is named. It's discouraging. If I ever do achieve anything and become famous, within a couple decades, I'll become R.J. Jackobz.

climate and weather
Lighting goes up. It shoots right up from the ground and into the cloud. this is what the encyclopedia says in the section on climate and weather. I reread this passage a couple of times to make sure I hadn't gone batty -but no, lightning goes up.

To be technical, it does first go down -there's an initial bolt called the "leader" that zips from the cloud to the ground. But the bright part, the part that flashes, is the "return stroke," which goes from ground back to the cloud.

This is profoundly unnerving. When I didn't know the history of canned laughter or the existence of a sexy Confederate spy, that was mildly vexing. But this is unnerving. This is a whole new level of ignorance. I've been looking at lightning all my life, and its sky-to-ground direction seemed about as certain as the slightly asymmetrical nose on my face. To be confronted with this totally counterintuitive information -it makes me paranoid. What other incorrect ideas do I have? is the sun actually cold? Is the sky orange? Is Keanu Reeves a brilliant actor?

dance
In a tribe on the island of Santa maria, old men used to stand by with bows and arrows and shoot every dancer who made a mistake. The perfect way to raise the stakes on American Idol.

All in all this is the most entertaining piece of non-fiction I've read in a long time. And quite informative actually, in a nerdy sort of way.

Book Review #5 - A Good House

I bought this book in 1999 when it won the Giller, read it, and then retired it to my bookshelf. Having failed to make it to the library before Canada Day I needed something to read and pulled this out. What a great book! It follows the Chambers family from 1949 to 1997, randomly jumping from year to year, or decades in some cases. Set in Stonebrook, a small town within driving distance of Toronto, the book is really just about the ordinary life of this family, their triumphs and tragedies. Bonnie Burnard is a fantastic writer, the characters are wonderfully real and as complex as real people are. Nothing seems contrived, everything blends together seamlessly. Upon reflecting after finishing the book it made me think of a saying of Karly's "Laugh, Cry, Live in the Same House". Yup, isn't that what families are all about.

Book Review #4 -Never Change

Never Change by Elizabeth Berg has a nice, friendly feel to it. The book is a quick read and while it deals with death and dying it is rather a soft book, easy to read and pleasant. I can say this book was enjoyable to a certain level but a bit on the unbelievable side. The shy and aloof main character, Myra, is a nurse and ends up providing palliative care to Chip, (who, of course, was the coolest boy in her high school), when he returns to his hometown to live out his days with a brain tumor. This already had a Nicholas Sparks contrivance to it, but then Chip ends up living at Myra's house when he finds his parents are just a little too much to be around 24/7. Hello?! Medical ethics? I've never heard of any nurse inviting her patient to stay in her house. This and other things make the plot rather silly, rendering it mostly fluff. There are some nice passages here and there, this is one of them:

I think I know what Diann's yearbook looks like - no room for any more messages, all the space filled by people congratulating her on being herself and congratulating themselves on being her friend, and telling her to "never change." As though it were a choice. As though one of greatest lessons isn't that change is the only constant. The seasons tell us, everything in organic life tells us, that there is no holding on; still, we try to do just that. Sometimes, though, we learn the kind of wisdom that celebrates the open hand. Then we know that letting go of everything is the only way to keep the things that matter most.

Book Review #3 -The Hundred Secret Senses

So, I took a hiatus from actually reviewing the books I was reading. It seems a little silly to review brain candy books and historical romances. But, here I am, back at it, reading actual literature. This book centers on Olivia, a Chinese American, trying to make sense of life and her relationships with her sister and estranged husband. Olivia's a little neurotic, the same way that many of us are, and it doesn't help that her sister, Kwan, is, hmmm, shall we say a little different. Amy Tan does write quite beautifully. One of my favorite passages in the book was:

"I planned to talk about the problems later. How he saw avoidance as normal and I saw it as a warning. How we didn't know how to talk to each other anymore, how in protecting our own territory we were losing common ground. before it was too late, I wanted to say that whatever love had brought us together had dwindled and now needed to be restocked. At times I feared that our love had never overflowed into plenty, that it had been enough for a few years but was never meant to last a lifetime. We mistook a snack for a recurring harvest. We were two people starved for abundant love but too tired to say so, leg-ironed together until time passed us by and we left this world, two vague hopes without dreams, just another random combination of sperm and egg, male and female, once here now gone....Now that our marriage is over, I know what love is. It's a trick on the brain, the adrenal glands releasing endorphins. It floods the cells that transmit worry and better sense, drowns them with biochemical bliss. You can know all these things about love, yet it remains irresistible, as beguiling as the floating arms of long sleep."

Overall a very good read, I couldn't put it down once I started.

Book Review #2

"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time"*** by Mark Haddon is one of the most unique books I have read in a while. It is the story of Christopher Boone, an autistic 15 year old, who is trying to discover who killed his neighbour's standard poodle with a pitch fork. Before I go too far, I must say that there are a few language issues and some marital infidelity within these pages. I don't know if I would recommend this book for say your church book club, but it is amazingly well written and so hard to put down. I felt like I understood Christopher's way of thinking in this book, Haddon really has done a good job of describing the life of someone with autism, from their perspective. (At least as far as I know...what do I really know about autism??) In some ways the book is heart wrenching, you sympathize completely with Christopher as it is written first person, from his perspective, but yet you see the upheaval his condition and the consequences of it has caused his family. Yet you feel that there is hope for them and Christopher. I would give this book two thumbs up!

***The original title on the book has no caps in it, I have capitalized them in honour of Eats, Shoots, and Leaves by Lynne Truss, (and my good editorial friends Marta and Karly, hehehe). LOL!

Book Review #1

I have been fortunate to be reading some really fantastic books lately. I really should have started my book review series with "Honeymoon in Purdah" when Anne gave it to me for my birthday because it was FABULOUS! but I am lifting this idea of a book review series off of Angela's blog and didn't think of doing my own until now. So, book numero uno, "Winter Wheat" by Mildred Walker. This was another great birthday gift, from my friend Karly. It tells the story of Ellen Webb, a girl that has grown up and lived her whole life in the dry land wheat farming country of Montana. Ellen goes away to university in Minnesota and the book is the story of her coming of age during the following year and a half. Ellen is a completely lovable heroine, she is capable, smart, well thought, hard working but yet completely human. Ellen experiences what I think all of us feel at some point, that the family and home life we think is normal and don't really think about, is totally not normal for others, and in fact may be viewed negatively. It can make us squirm, feel insecure, become self-critical or critical of our families, but, (in most people), these feelings pass and we can accept our foibles and family situations and eccentricities. And frankly as we mature we care less about what other people think. Some of my favourite passages in the book would give away the plot and how things all turn out so I shall refrain from quoting them here. I would definitely give this book two thumbs up!