Balancing Acts by Zoe Fishman

Balancing Acts by Zoe Fishman
2010, 368 pages

Charlie, Bess, Sabine, and Naomi reconnect at an informal 10-year college reunion in New York City. Charlie is there to recruit students for her fledgling yoga studio, and Bess, Sabine, and Naomi, all intimidated by and uninitiated to yoga, agree to a six-week class. As the class progresses, so does the friendship between these women as they all struggle to overcome obstacles in their personal and professional lives.

Bess, Sabine, and Naomi were all standing awkwardly in the middle of the studio, clutching their mats with apprehension. Charlie was suddenly sure that they hadn't looked much different fourteen years earlier, arriving at college with their suitcases and shower caddies--their clothes smelling of Mom's detergent. Their nervousness was endearing, but Charlie had to nip it in the bud now, if she expected them to get anywhere in that morning's class. They only had six weeks, after all. They had to let go. (p65)

I read a review of this book a couple of weeks ago from Heather at Book Addiction, and soon after I was at the bookstore trying to pick up some light reads, and I bought this one on an impulse. The story of four women in their thirties finding friendship and overcoming obstacles in their lives was pretty much what you'd expect from a chick lit novel, but there were a few aspects that I liked about this one.

It took me a while to connect with the four main characters in this novel, and even at the end I feel like the four women weren't as well developed as they could have been. Despite this, after a slow start I did become invested in their stories, partly because in each of these women's situations I found something I could relate to, whether it was Naomi's fears about her health, Sabine's struggles to return to writing in addition to her full time job, or Bess's reluctance to move across the country to be with her boyfriend.

I also enjoyed the focus on yoga. This book definitely made me want to get myself in shape and go to a yoga class! I thought the writing could be corny sometimes, but overall I enjoyed reading these women's stories, and would conditionally recommend it to fans of chick lit.

"Yoga is about surrendering to a sense of flow and internal rhythm," Charlie explained. "You connect with your inner being to flow more successfully on a physical level. You are evolving inside in order to evolve outside." (p191)

In My Mailbox (3.28.10)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. Head over there to see what everyone else received this week!

I've put myself on library probation, and actually ended up returning a couple of  books unread this week, which I hate to do but feel like is necessary. Regardless, a few books arrived in my mailbox this week, all of which I'm really excited to get to.

I won a copy of Still Alice by Lisa Genova from Kay at My Random Acts of Reading. Thanks so much Kay!! Here's the blurb from the back of the book:

Alice Howland is proud of the life she worked so hard to build. At fifty years old, she's a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard and a world-renowned expert in linguistics with a successful husband and three grown children. When she becomes increasingly disoriented and forgetful, a tragic diagnosis changes her life--and her relationship with her family and the world--forever.

At once beautiful and terrifying, Still Alice is a moving and vivid depiction of life with early onset Alzheimer's disease that is as compelling as A Beautiful Mind and as unforgettable as Ordinary People.

Having had a family member die of Alzheimer's, this is a book that I think is really important for me to read and I'm glad to finally get my hands on a copy! 

Keeping the Feast by Paula Butterini arrived this week from Bookmooch. I've been wanting to read this one since the first reviews came out - I'm really developing a taste for foodie memoirs, and this one sounds like a really inspiring read! Here's a summary from Goodreads:

A story of food and love, injury and healing, Keeping the Feast is the triumphant memoir of one couple's nourishment and restoration in Italy after a period of tragedy, and the extraordinary sustaining powers of food, family, and friendship.

Paula and John met in Italy, fell in love, and four years later, married in Rome. But less than a month after the wedding, tragedy struck. They had transferred from their Italian paradise to Warsaw and while reporting on an uprising in Romania, John was shot and nearly killed by sniper fire. Although he recovered from his physical wounds in less than a year, the process of healing had just begun. Unable to regain his equilibrium, he sank into a deep sadness that reverberated throughout their relationship. It was the abrupt end of what they'd known together, and the beginning of a new phase of life neither had planned for. All of a sudden, Paula was forced to reexamine her marriage, her husband, and herself.

I also received a copy Guest House by Barbara K. Richardson for review from Anne Staszalek at The Book Report Network. The first chapter is available online at the author's website, and after reading that I decided this was a book I definitely want to read. Here's the blurb from the back cover:

Driving home from work on a summer afternoon, Melba Burns witnesses a nightmare collision. She abandons her car, quits her job, and stops driving. The wreck ends Melba's desire for success at any cost; she retreats into her beloved old farmhouse yearning for a simpler peace. But peace has never met Melba's stunning to roommate JoLee Garry, a magnet for messes and trouble. JoLee brings a series of unexpected guests who transform Melba's solo life into something different, darker, and richer.

Finally, I also received a copy of Glorious by Bernice L. McFadden for review from the author. I heard great things about her previous novel, Sugar, so I'm looking forward to reading her latest novel. Here's the blurb from the back cover:

Glorious is set against the backdrops of the Jim Crow South, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Civil Rights era. Blending fact and fiction, Glorious is the story of Easter Venetta Bartlett, a fictional Harlem Renaissance writer whose tumultuous path to success, ruin, and ultimately revival offers a candid and true portrait of the American experience in all its beauty and cruelty.

It is a novel informed by the question that is the title of Langston Hughes's famous poem:  What happens to a dream deferred? Based on years of research, this heart-wrenching fictional account is given added resonance by factual events coupled with real and imagined larger-than-life characters. Glorious is an audacious exploration into the nature of self-hatred, love, possession, ego, betrayal, and, finally, redemption.

Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie

Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie
1938, 214 pages

I've been wanting to try reading mysteries for a while, and I figured what better way to start than with the 'Queen of Crime' herself, Agatha Christie. I picked this one up on an impulse in the bookstore, mostly because I liked the setting and thought the plot sounded interesting.

In this book, Christie's beloved detective Hercule Poirot is on vacation in Jerusalem, and during his first night's day he overhears part of a conversation in which someone says, "You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?" Not long after that, Poirot is asked to look into the murder of Mrs. Boynton, the controlling matriarch of her family, who by all accounts is better off dead. Poirot perserveres in his investigation regardless, and in time virtually everyone comes under suspicion for the murder of Mrs. Boynton.

I didn't quite know what to expect coming into this novel. I think I may have watched a few too many procedural tv shows, where the story starts off with a body being found, and the investigation takes center stage. In this book, Christie spends over 80 pages setting the stage before the murder even takes place, and where Poirot was barely featured. I was surprised by this and, as I was reading, almost wished that the murder would happen already, since you know who's going to die before you even open the book. After finishing the book, I can see why this build up was important and understand why it's there. But I'm curious - is this long buildup before the crime typical of mysteries? Just trying to manage my expectations ;)

Anyway, I really liked the premise of this book - the question of whether Mrs. Boynton deserved to die, and the fact that virtually every character has some motive for wanting her dead. The resolution was a surprise to me, but it made sense in hindsight and I really liked the way it played out in the end.

"There is no doubt that her death was--how shall we put it?--beneficial to the community. It has brought freedom to her family. They will have scope to develop--they are all, I think, people of good character and intelligence. They will be--now--useful members of society! The death of Mrs. Boynton, as I see it, has resulted in nothing but good."

Poirot repeated for the third time:

"So, are you satisfied?"

"No." Dr. Gerard pounded a fist suddenly on the table. I am not 'satisfied," as you put it! It is my instinct to preserve life--not to hasten death. Therefore, though my conscious mind may repeat that this woman's death was a good thing, my unconscious mind rebels against it! It is not well, gentleman, that a human being should die before his or her time has come." (p102)

This book definitely makes me want to pick up some more mysteries in the future. The jury is still out on whether I love Agatha Christie's mysteries - I thought this one was enjoyable, but not quite what I expected.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
2009, 290 pages

In 1942 Seattle, twelve-year-old Henry Lee is the only Chinese student at Ranier Elementary. Proud of his son's "scholarshipping," Henry's father forbids his son to speak anything other than english at home, despite the fact that neither of his parents understand him, yet at the same time forces Henry to wear a button that says "I am Chinese." Henry is lonely and picked on, until one day his world brightens when Keiko, a Japanese girl, starts at Ranier. Henry and Keiko become friends, despite Henry's father's aversion to all things Japanese. Henry and Keiko's friendship becomes more complicated when Keiko's family is "evacuated" along with the entire Japanese population of Seattle.

In 1986, Henry is still getting over the recent death of his wife, Ethel, when he hears that belongings of Japanese families that were evacuated during World War II have been found in the Panama Hotel. Henry quixotically searches these belongings for an old record that he and Keiko had shared, all the while trying to cross the rift that exists between him and his son, Marty. 

Henry stared in silence as a small parade of wooden packing crates and leathery suitcases were hauled upstairs, the crowd marveling at the once-precious items held within:  a white communion dress, tarnished silver candlesticks, a picnic basket--items that had collected dust, untouched, for forty-plus years. Saved for a happier time that never came.

The more Henry thought about the shabby old knickknacks, the forgotten treasures, the more he wondered if his own broken heart might be found in there, hidden among the unclaimed possessions of another time. Boarded up in the basement of a condemned hotel. Lost, but never forgotten. (p6-7)

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet alternates between telling the story an adolescent Henry's war years with his later life in 1986. What really amazed me about this book is how Ford manages to tell the story of the Japanese evacuation, of the struggles between generations in immigrant families, and of the friendship between Henry and Keiko, with each story ringing true to the reader. All of the elements in this novel - the Oscar Holden record Henry searches for; his meeting of Ethel, who he marries; even the bullies who pick on Henry mercilessly - all fit together seamlessly in a touching story.

Ford creates an unexpected cast of characters that works in the context of this novel. I loved Sheldon, the African American saxophone player who acts as a big brother to Henry, and Samantha, the Caucasian fiance of Henry's son, Marty, who impresses her future father-in-law with a mastery of Chinese cuisine. I read this book slowly, over the course of a week, but I savored every page and enjoyed Ford's writing, which brings these characters to life and is artful and beautiful. Take this example:

Henry squinted, allowing his senses to adjust to the daylight and the cold, gray Seattle sky that filled the paned windows of the Panama Hotel lobby. Everything, it seemed--the city, the sky--was brighter and more vivid than before. So modern, compared with the time capsule downstairs. As he left the hotel, Henry looked west to where the sun was setting, burnt sienna flooding the horizon. It reminded him that time was short, but that beautiful endings could still be found at the end of cold, dreary days. (p76-77)

This book also tells an important story - that of the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. This is one of the darker moments in American history, and it was heartbreaking to watch Keiko's family as they were "evacuated," despite the fact that her family was more "American" than Japanese, and that Keiko was born in the U.S. Keiko's frustration at seeing those of Japanese heritage taken away and her family's strength as they are forced to leave behind their entire life is touching.

Keiko halted and looked at Henry. She looked down at his button, the one his father had made him wear. "You are Chinese, aren't you, Henry?"
He nodded, not knowing how to answer.
"That's fine. Be who you are," she said, turning away, a look of disappointment in her eyes. "But I'm an American." (p60)

Another aspect of the novel that really rang true for me was its depiction of the relationship between first generation American Henry and his immigrant parents. Henry's father demands that he speak only english in their home, despite the fact that this essentially renders Henry unable to communicate with his parents. Henry is torn between two worlds - not American enough to fit in at Ranier Elementary, but not fitting into Chinese culture either. This experience is echoed to some degree by Keiko's experience, as well as Henry's struggle to be understood by his own son, Marty.

This book is definitely a worthwhile read, and I would recommend it to practically anyone. It is well-deserving of all the praise it's been getting and is a very memorable book.

Teaser Tuesday (3.23.10)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I am currently reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. This book is really interesting and so far, and I'm enjoying Bourdain's style of writing. Here's my teaser:

Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living. Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food. (p70)

Kind of harsh, huh? The former vegetarian in me grimaces, but the rest of me chuckled ;)

Enlighted Sexism by Susan J. Douglas

Enlightened Sexism:  The Seductive Message that Feminism's Work is Done by Susan J. Douglas
2010, 334 pages

Enlightened sexism is a manufacturing process that is produced, week in and week out, by the media. Its components--anxiety about female achievement; a renewed and amplified objectification of young women's bodies and faces; the dual exploitation and punishment of female sexuality; the dividing of women against each other by age, race, and class; rampant branding and consumerism--began to swirl around in the early 1990s, consolidating as the dark star it has become in the early twenty-first century. Some, myself included, have referred to this state of affairs and this kind of media mix as "postfeminist." But I am rejecting this term. It has gotten gummed up by too many conflicting definitions. And besides, this term suggests that somehow feminism is at the root of this when it isn't-it's good, old-fashioned, grade-A sexism that reinforces good, old-fashioned, grade-A patriarchy. It's just much better disguised, in seductive Manolo Blahniks and an Ipex bra. (p10)

In Enlightened Sexism, Susan J. Douglas argues that the through the combination of "enlightened sexism" and "embedded feminism," the media and popular culture conceal the very real need for continued feminism - the very idea of which having become almost a dirty word. In embedded feminism, tv shows and the media present women in power as fait accompli, leading women to believe that feminism is part of the cultural landscape and hiding the fact that there still exist many disparities between women and men in this country. Through enlightened sexism, women continue objectified and exploited in popular culture, but the viewer is meant to watch with irony, as Douglas explains:

This is the knowing wink:  guys are so dumb, such helpless slaves to big breasts, and the female display is, in the end, so harmless, that a feminist critique is not necessary. Therefore, the objectification of women is now fine; why, it's actually a joke on the guys. It's silly to be sexist; therefore, it's funny to be sexist. (p13)

Douglas writes in a conversational tone that immediately pulled me into her writing and kept me interested. Not having read much nonfiction lately, I expected this to be a tough read for me and was pleasantly surprised to find the opposite to be the case - for the most part, I was constantly engaged by Douglas's writing and managed to finish it over the course of a weekend.

I also enjoyed reading the examples she cites of movies, tv shows, and popular culture in which embedded feminism or enlightened sexism are at work. Having watched or at least heard of many of the examples that she gives, I was intrigued by her analysis of them. To be honest, I'm not sure if I would have enjoyed this book as much as I would have if I wasn't so familiar with all of her examples - I did lose some interest when the chapters focused on aspects of the media I wasn't as familiar with. Her chapters also tended to be example-heavy, and more than once I wished that she would give fewer examples and make her point sooner.

This book definitely got me thinking more about feminism, and the role that it plays in my life. It's not something I've really considered before, and I'm definitely watching tv shows and movies in a new light now. Overall, I'd say that this book is illuminating and well-written, but be wary before picking it up if you're not completely interested in the subject material.

Note:  I received a copy of this book for review from Goodreads First Reads. 

Reading Funks and Spontaneous Book Buying

It seems that every time I read a really good book, it's hard for me to choose what to read next. Whatever I pick will most likely suffer in comparison to what I've just finished, so it's hard to get motivated to pick up something new.

In other words, after finishing Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet on Friday (and loving it - review coming soon!), I spent almost all of yesterday procrastinating on picking what to read next. My aversion to reading something new was only compounded by my growing pile of library books with looming due dates. Especially since I didn't really feel up to reading any of the library books sitting on my shelf right now. I ended up running to the bookstore and splurging on some impulse buys. At long last, an Agatha Christie mystery (Appointment with Death - my first Christie mystery!) succeeded in capturing my attention and getting me reading again.

I realized that I hate the pressure of having to read library books by a certain date - especially new releases that I can only check out for one week. I am very much a "moody" reader - I can pick up a book and not be able to get through it if the time isn't right, and a week later I'll pick the same book up and read it in a few days. The pressure to read library books before they're due stresses me out, especially since my frequent bouts of binge-requesting means that I end up with waaaay too many books coming in at once.

The point of this post? I want to take some of the pressure off in terms of reading. I want to try to avoid ending up with tons of library books to read, such that I  ignore what's already sitting in my shelf or feel too guilty to buy new books. Does that make sense? Basically, I want to have more freedom to pick up whichever book on my shelf I feel like reading at the time, without having to worry about when I need to read something by. Or to pick up a book at the bookstore and read it right away, if I want. This means I'm going to try to reign in my library requests for the time being... we'll see how that goes.

Sorry for the rambling post. In book related news, I should have reviews for Enlightened Sexism by Susan J. Douglas and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford up this week. I also picked up these books at the bookstore yesterday during my impulse book-buying spree:

Alice in Wonderland (Movie Review)

Alice in Wonderland
2010

Alice is at an outdoor party, and becomes distracted by a rabbit wearing a suit, who she follows down the hole to Wonderland. However, Alice does not remember her visit to Wonderland as a child, and those around her become convinced that she is "the wrong Alice," while Alice believes that she is in a dream. Alice reignites her friendship with the Mad Hatter, and reluctantly becomes drawn into the rivalry between the Red and White Queen.

I have to admit, I'm not sure if I've ever seen the original Alice in Wonderland, and when I tried reading the book a few years ago, I got stuck on the part where she drinks the from the bottle that says "Drink Me," so I was almost completely ignorant going into the movie, having little knowledge of the original story.

 I saw the movie in 3-D, and I almost wish I hadn't. This may sound silly, but I spent a large part of the movie trying to figure out what was in 3-D and what wasn't, which means that I didn't become particularly invested in the story. For the most part I thought the movie was just ok... I was expecting something weird, as one would from the combination of Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, and the movie was definitely what you would expect in that regard.

I did enjoy any scene featuring the chesire cat - I'm not quite sure why but he was definitely the highlight of the movie for me. I also thought that Helena Bonham Carter did a great job as the Red Queen. My friend that I saw the movie with absolutely hated Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, but I was more amused than bothered by her acting. Then again, I was also cracking up during the big fight scene, so go figure.

One thing the movie did was make me want to try reading the book again. I'm not quite sure what happened to the copy I was reading a while back, but I feel like now that I know more about the story and characters, I might be more motivated to keep reading. Overall, I'd say this is a movie to rent rather than see in the theaters, and definitely not worth it for the 3-D.

what the world will look like when all the water leaves us by Laura van den Berg

what the world will look like when all the water leaves us by Laura van den Berg
2009, 205 pages

what the world will look like when all the water leaves us is a book of short stories by Laura van den Berg. The stories are set in locations ranging from Boston to the Congo, from Paris to Madagascar. In eight stories, van den Berg's heroines deal with loss, disappointment, and other obstacles.

Despite the fact that this was a book of short stories, van den Berg quickly establishes her characters and their worlds in each. For example, in the opening paragraph of goodbye my loveds, I was amazed at how quickly she established an atmosphere and character, immediately making me interested in the story:

My brother entered my room at dawn. He wanted to show me the hole outside our building. I got out of bed and he drug me through the blue-black light of our basement apartment. He was twelve, although most people thought he was younger. I didn't tell him I was already awake, lying on my back and gazing at the ceiling, trying hard to return to sleep until my alarm sounded, trying hard to be normal. (p34)

Laura van den Berg is a fantastic writer. Several times when reading this I paused to reread something and savor her writing. Her writing is lyrical and natural, and I loved the way she uses images to convey the emotional state of the characters. Take this example (the narrator has lost her parents and has become the sole caretaker of her brother):

One section of the store consisted entirely of antique maps. I liked to find maps of the places my parents had been and study the geography, imagining them crossing the blue lines of the Kalambo River in Tanzania or climbing the brown peaks of Mount Abu in India. The phone rang. I ignored it at first, then realized it might be my brother and answered. It was Denver, calling to tell me the hole in the street was actually a tunnel that led to the other side of the world. (p41)

All of the stories in this collection are incredibly touching. When I finished the first short story in the book, where we must be, I was really touched and had to put the book down and let it sink in before reading any more. In most of the stories, van den Berg's heroines are coping with some form of loss, and van den Berg does an amazing job of portraying the emotions of her characters yet ending each story on a hopeful note. It's been a few days since I finished reading this, and most of the stories still stick out to me individually.

I will say that, reading this book exclusively over the course of a week, the stories began to feel repetitive midway through. I think that be my own fault though - perhaps my mistake is attempting to read all the short stories in a row. Do you all tend to read a book of short stories exclusively all at once, or intersperse it with other things? As a newcomer to short story collections, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and would definitely recommend it for van den Berg's writing and characters. It has definitely served as a great reintroduction to short fiction for me!

Teaser Tuesday (3.16.10)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser this week is from Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. I haven't actually had time to start this yet, so it's a teaser for me as well!

Keiko cut him off. "No, this is for taking me to the Black Elks Club with you."

"And almost getting us thrown in jail," Henry muttered sheepishly.

He watched her purse her lips and consider that comment, then dismiss his concern, beaming at Henry. "It was worth it." (p111)

This came up on the first random page I turned to - I think it's so sweet! Can't wait to get started with this book, I've heard so many great things about it!

Nefertiti by Michelle Moran

Nefertiti by Michelle Moran
2007, 463 pages

With the death of Egypt's crown prince, Tuthmosis, his brother Amunhotep is the new heir to Egypt's throne. However, Amunhotep has his own ideas about the future of Egypt, and Queen Tiye, who is currently ruling Egypt by default, hopes for him to take a Chief Wife who will be able to temper his dangerous ideas. Into this steps the irresistible Nefertiti, who convinces the Queen that she can play that role. Mutnodjmet, her younger sister, observes as Amunhotep and Nefertiti together try to build their own version of Egypt, displacing the old gods to worship Aten, the sun. Lacking the grand aspirations of her sister, Mutnodjmet struggles to help her sister maintain her role all the while searching to fulfill her own happiness.

I absolutely loved The Heretic Queen, so I could hardly wait to start reading Nefertiti when it arrived from the library. I was excited to revisit the world of Ancient Egypt that Moran so convincingly creates, and once again I was not disappointed. This book is full of interesting characters - Queen Tiye and Ipu (Mutnodjmet's body servant) immediately come to mind as background characters who I nonetheless enjoyed - and Moran's writing succeeds in portraying an Ancient Egypt that is realistic and relatable.

"You can't change the desert. You can only take the fastest course through it. Wishing it's an oasis won't make it so, Mutnodjmet." (p128-9)

Just as I enjoyed watching Nefertari navigate Egyptian politics in The Heretic Queen, I eagerly followed her mother, Mutnodjmet, in Nefertiti. It is very easy to sympathize with Mutnodjmet, who is in many ways a foil to her sister. Unlike Nefertiti, Mutnodjmet does not seek power, and finds a niche for herself through her knowledge of herbs and cures. She finds a similar spirit in General Nakhtmin, who desires a quiet life. When Mutnodjmet's relationship with General Nakhtmin interferes with her family's agenda, Mutnodjmet is forced to choose between the two, and I enjoyed watching her character develop throughout the book.

"Be careful here, my lady. Let history forget your name. For if your deeds are to live in eternity, you will have become exactly what your family wants you to be." (p136)

The character of Nefertiti was also well-crafted and interesting to read. At times Nefertiti seems to be driven only by her quest for personal power, to the detriment of Mutnodjmet and others. However, Nefertiti is a complex character brought to life by Moran, and though I didn't always like her, I was intrigued by her portrayal. Her climb to power in some ways mimics that which Nefertari undergoes in The Heretic Queen, but Nefertiti's motives and ambitions are very different. Take this example:

"I play the goddess to the people!" she cried. "I play the savior of this kingdom when masses of Egyptian soldiers want to revolt and are stopped only when I can convince them that Aten has spoken through me and assured them of prosperity. I am the one who must hold the puppet strings in this play, and only father"--her lower lip began to tremble--"only Father knows how hard and tiring that is." (p316)

As a tangent, I know that I read this book out of order - it was both written and takes place prior to The Heretic Queen. It was interesting to get to know characters that, without ever actually being introduced, had had such an impact in the world of The Heretic Queen. Having read Heretic Queen first, I wonder if my impressions of both novels may differ from someone (I'm sure many of you) who read the books in the proper order. For example, I thought that the scope of Nefertiti was much greater than that of The Heretic Queen, but I think that I related to the characters more in The Heretic Queen. Nefertiti and Mutnodjmet were both complex characters and I quickly became invested in Mutnodjmet, but I didn't root for her quite as much as I rooted for Nefertari in the next installment. I wonder if those who read the books in their proper order might disagree.

At any rate, I thoroughly enjoyed Nefertiti. It was easy to become invested in the characters and story, and I voraciously devoured every page. I may have to make myself wait longer before picking up Moran's latest novel, Cleopatra's Daughter, as when I finish that, I'll have run out of things to read by her!

"Have I offended you my lady?"
"Yes, you have."
"I'm sorry. I shall be more careful in the future. After all, you will be one of the most dangerous women at court."
I stopped walking.
"Privy to the secrets that viziers and priests are paying spies very handsomely to procure."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Information, Lady Mutnodjmet," hes aid, and he kept walking toward the stables.
"And what do you think information can do?" I called after him.
"In the wrong hands," he replied over his shoulder, "it can do anything." (p74)

In My Mailbox (3.14.10)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

I (hopefully) have learned my lesson about library requests. (What am I saying? I'll never learn my lesson...) So, nothing from the library this week, but I did receive a copy of Mrs. Somebody Somebody by Tracy Winn courtesy of LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.

That's it for this week... looking forward to seeing what arrived for everyone else!

Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
2010, 290 pages

Set in the U.S. in the early 1850s, this book tells the story of Lizzie, Sweet, Reenie, and Mawu - slaves who go on vacation with their masters to Tawawa House, a resort in Ohio renowned for its water. All four women are mistresses to their masters, who don't bring their wives along for the trip. Not far from the resort lies a hotel for freed blacks, and a visit there broaches the idea of escape among the slaves, each of whom have their own motives for running or staying. Lizzie, the centerpiece of the novel, struggles with the decision of whether to stay out of her love for her master, Drayle, and for her children, who are still on the plantation; or to run away to freedom.

This book tells an important story about the history of slavery in the U.S. From each of the women's stories, we learn about a different aspect of the cruelty and heartbreaking nature of slavery. I don't read much fiction about slavery, so although technically I knew about the kind of stories this book tells beforehand, it was still eye-opening and heartbreaking to read about it in this book, when I was invested in the characters and frustrated by their fates.

Lizzie, one of the slaves, is the central figure in the novel. We follow her through three visits to the resort in Ohio and also learn about the history of her relationship with her master, Drayle, and watch the changing status of Lizzie's children on the plantation. Although I found Lizzie a little hard to relate to and didn't quite understand all of her decisions, the her relationship with Drayle and her struggles with the decision of whether or not to run away is a very important part of the book.

Overall, I would say that this is a good book but not a great one. I'm glad I read it because the story that it tells is an important one, but I didn't love the story and characters for their own sake.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
2007, 372 pages

For me, there's nothing that quite rivals the feeling of picking up a favorite book, opening it to the first page, and reembarking on a journey that I know will captivate and move me. Yes, I know what's to come, but I find something extremely comforting in re-immersing myself in the writing and a story that I know and love.

That feeling of comfort is exactly what happened from the minute I opened A Thousand Splendid Suns to the first page. A Thousand Splendid Suns is one of my favorite books, and I took advantage of the Flashback Challenge to give myself an excuse to reread it. The reread proved that this book very much deserves its place as one of my favorites. 

A Thousand Splendid Suns takes place in Afghanistan, and tells the intertwined stories of two very different women - Mariam and Laila. These two women live in Kabul and survive the war that surrounds them as the communist regime falls and, ultimately, the Taliban gains power. This book offers a window into the effects of the war and shows how the Taliban regime affected the scope of these women's lives.

Mariam grows up outside of Herat, Afghanistan. She lives with her mother in a village outside of the city, visited once a week by her father, Jalil, who, while kind to his illegitimate daughter, keeps her separate from the children of his three wives. Despite this, Mariam loves Jalil and looks forward to his visits, to the chagrin of her mother.

Laila is born in Kabul as the communist government takes control in Afghanistan. All her life, Laila has lived next door to Tariq, her best friend, who lost a leg when he stepped on a mine in his childhood. As she reaches adolescence these feelings develop into something more. Meanwhile, Laila's mother allows depression to overcome her after her two sons leave to fight in the war, and Laila is the one who takes care of her father. A teacher, Laila's father is determined that Laila should get an education.

I know you are still young, but I want you to understand and learn this now, he said. Marriage can wait, education cannot. You're a very, very bright girl. Truly you are. You can be anything you want, Laila. I know this about you. And I also know that when this war is over, Afghanistan is going to need you as much as its men, maybe even more. Because a society has no chance of success if it's women are uneducated, Laila. No chance. (p103)

We are introduced to these two women separately, and watch as they are forced to grow up and as their lives become intertwined by the war. For me, it is Mariam's story that really gives this novel its compelling and powerful edge. As much as I love Laila's story, and I do, it is Mariam's life that I find utterly heartbreaking, and that moves me to tears at the end of the novel. Take this quote, for example:

At the time, Mariam did not understand. She did not know what this word harami--bastard--meant. Nor was she old enough to appreciate the injustice, to see that it is the creators of the harami who are culpable, not the harami, whose only sin is being born. Mariam did surmise, by the way Nana said the word, that it was an ugly, loathesome thing to be a harami, like an insect, like the scurrying cockroaches Nana was always cursing and sweeping out of the kolba.

Later, when she was older, Mariam did understand. It was they way Nana uttered the word--not so much saying it as spitting it at her--that made Mariam feel the full sting of it. She understood then what Nana meant, that a harami was an unwanted thing; that she, Mariam, was an illegitimate person who would never have legitimate claim to the things other people had, things such as love, family, home, acceptance. (p4)

I would recommend this book to absolutely everyone. It's heartbreaking yet hopeful, and provides a window into the recent history of Afghanistan. Hosseini's writing is beautiful, and this is a story that I will come back to time and time again.

Teaser Tuesday (3.9.10)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week's teaser comes from what the world will look like when all the water leaves us, a collection of short stories by Laura van den Berg. I can't remember the last time I read a book of short stories, but the two I've read so far in this book have both been really powerful, so I'm looking forward to reading the rest. Here's my teaser - I actually stuck to two sentences this week, yay!

Since then, he'd come to believe in magic, in making the unknowable knowable. I viewed him with equal doses of fear and admiration. (p43)

For some reason, the phrase making the unknowable knowable appeals to me... I keep rolling over the words in my mind.

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

The Arrival by Shaun Tan
2006, 128 pages 

To be honest, I'm not quite sure how to review this book. I've never delved into the realm of graphic novels before now, and The Arrival isn't exactly your typical graphic novel anyway:  told exclusively in pictures, Tan relies on his images to tell his story, rather than words.

Outwardly the story of an immigrant leaving his family behind to move to a new country, Tan mixes the very real feelings of a new immigrant with a fantastical world that contains just enough of reality to be heartbreaking and just enough fantasy to convey the strangeness of arriving in a new country.

Reading a story comprised entirely of pictures was a new experience for me, and it required some effort on my part. At several points I had to skim backwards to really understand the story that was being told, and I hadn't expected the fantasy elements coming in. However, Tan's artwork is amazing and you can see the effort he put into every detail of the story - even two pages devoted entirely to the sky during the protagonist's journey.

I definitely gained something from reading this book, and would recommend it to any fan of graphic novels, but with the proviso that if this is your first exposure to the medim (as it was mine), it might be a bit jarring at first.

In My Mailbox (3.7.10)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Eurg, I think I may need to temporarily place a moratorium on library requests. I had five books come in this week, in addition to the five from last week! This may not seem like a lot to those amazing readers to read a book a day, but I'm lucky if I get through 2 or 3 books a week. I'm so excited about these though, so without further ado, here's what came in from the library this week:

• Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez:  I've been intrigued by this one ever since I first heard about it, so I was so excited when my request finally came in! This one is due back in a week, so expect a review sometime soon!
• Nefertiti by Michelle Moran:  I decided that, despite all the other reading I want to do, I simply could not wait any longer before picking something else up by Michelle Moran. I absolutely loved The Heretic Queen, so I have high expectations for this one!
• Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford:  This is another one that I've heard nothing but good things about and was super ecstatic when I found out my library request had finally arrived. Can't wait!
• What the World Will Look Like when All the Water Leaves Us by Laura Van Den Berg:  I've always had a patience problem when it comes to short story collections - I lose interest midway through because there's no overarching plot to keep me invested. However, lately I've been thinking I should give short stories another try, and when I heard about this one from Heather at Book Addiction it sounded too good to pass up!
• Don Quixote by Cervantes:  I've always wanted to read this, and since it's on the list of books for the Gilmore Girls Reading Challenge I finally have an impetus to get through this 1000+ page monster. I have a feeling this is going to be a long-term project...

I also received Enlightened Sexism by Susan J. Douglass courtesy of Goodreads First Reads program:

Now here comes the dilemma... what to read first??

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
2005, 199 pages

Almost everyone knows the story of Homer's The Odyssey, wherein Odysseus spends years trying to return to his home of Ithaca after the Trojan War, and how in the meantime his wife Penelope holds off the suitors who are trying to force her to marry one of them. When Odysseus finally returns, he kills all the suitors and also hangs twelve of Penelope's maids who had been sleeping with them. In The Penelopiad, Atwood gives a voice to Penelope and to her twelve maids that were killed by Odysseus.

He told me once that everyone had a hidden door, which was the way into the heart, and that it was a point of honour with him to be able to find the handles to those doors. For the heart was both key and lock, and he who could master the hearts of men and learn their secrets was well on the way to mastering the Fates and controlling the thread of his own destiny. (p57-58)

This is a short book, less than two hundred pages, in which Penelope narrates the story of her life from the grave. The narrative shifts from Penelope in the afterlife to Penelope narrating her life to the maids interrupting with their perception of what happened. While Penelope tells her story chronologically in prose, the twelve maids interrupt with "The Chorus Line" - wherein the they tell their side of the story through poems, songs, and skits.  I really enjoyed this structure, and the chapters "told" by the maids were the highlight of the book for me.

Otherwise, I couldn't quite connect with Penelope, and because I couldn't connect with her character, the story didn't come across as powerfully as it should have. Other than the parts featuring the maids, I feel like the story didn't add much to the myth of The Odyssey. It's interesting in that it's told from Penelope's point of view, but I didn't find anything novel or compelling when Penelope "sets the record straight." Because I never really became invested in Penelope's version of the story, I didn't really gain much from this retelling.

I feel like this review is sounding more negative than I really mean it to - I did enjoy this book and am glad I read it.  The maids' sections really made the book for me, and even though I thought the retelling as a whole was somewhat lackluster, it was still a worthwhile read.

Under the old rules only important people had marriages, because only important people had inheritances. All the rest was just copulation of various kinds - rape or seductions, love affairs, one night stands, with gods who said they were shepherds or shepherds who said they were gods. Occasionally a goddess might get mixed up in it too, dabble around in perishable flesh like a queen playing at milkmaids, but the reward for the man was a shortened life and often a violent death. Immortality and mortality didn't mix well:  it was fire and mud, only the fire always won.

The gods were never averse to making a mess. In fact they enjoyed it. To watch some mortal with his or her eyes frying in their sockets through an overdose of god-sex made them shake with laughter. There was something childish about the gods, in a nasty way. I can say this now because I no longer have a body, I'm beyond that kind of suffering, and the gods aren't listening anyway. As far as I can tell they've gone to sleep. In your world, you don't get visitations from the gods the way people used to unless you're on drugs. (p23-24)

Almost Famous (Movie Review)

Almost Famous (2000)

Have you ever thought at a movie was all hype, and wondered what all the fuss whas about - and then watched it, and been blown away? That's what happened to me when I watched Almost Famous over the weekend, so I decided I had to post a review!

I had pretty much no desire to see this movie when it first came out, and I can't even remember why it was on my netflix queue other than out of a vague notion that I should watch it someday. When it arrived, I procrastinated on watching it, and ended up popping it in to keep myself amused while folding laundry. I was certainly in for a surprise! From the moment the movie started I was completely hooked!

Almost Famous is about William Miller, a 15-year-old high school graduate (yeah... his mother had him skip more than a couple of grades...), who decides he wants to be a music journalist and manages to grab an opportunity to write an article about the band Stillwater for Rolling Stone. William goes on the road with the band, observing them behind the scenes and befriending Penny Lane, one of the band's groupies (although she calls herself a "Band-Aide").

This kind of story normally wouldn't appeal to me all that much, but it was really well done and the acting was great - I was surprised to enjoy Kate Hudson as Penny Lane, and was thrilled when I recognized Frances McDormand (who I last saw in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day) as William's mother. I also have to say that although I'm not normally a fan of the long-haired rock look, Billy Crudup definitely made it work for me ;) However, the acting was fantastic all around, and when I finished this movie I immediately decided that I needed to sing its praises and recommend it to all movie lovers. So go watch this movie!

Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy: The Last Man in the World by Abigail Reynolds

Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy:  The Last Man in the World by Abigail Reynolds 
2010, 248 pages

Imagine that instead of a reverberating refusal, Elizabeth Bennet was forced to accept Mr Darcy's first proposal, and finds herself engaged to a man she despises. This is the premise in Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy:  The Last Man in the World, where, after proposing to Elizabeth, Mr Darcy immediately kisses her, and when they are interrupted by by Colonel Fitzwilliam, Elizabeth is faced with the choice of refusing and ruining herself and her sisters' chances at marriage, or accepting Mr Darcy's proposal.

I picked this book up because I thought the premise sounded interesting. Instead of following Elizabeth and Mr Darcy after their marriage like so many other Austen spinoffs I've seen, this one pushes them together into marriage prematurely. I was definitely pulled in by the story, and finished this book within a few hours. The characterization of Elizabeth and Mr Darcy was very true to their characters in Pride and Prejudice, and I enjoyed seeing these characters again.

However, I have to say that on the whole I was disappointed by this book. Maybe it's a case of having expectations set too high, but I often found myself groaning as the plot unraveled. I thought that the development of the relationship between Elizabeth and Mr Darcy was abrupt and uneven - not enough development in some places, while in others it felt like both characters were being intentionally stupid, or else the plot seemed a little too convenient and cliched. 

Despite all of these frustrations, I did race through the story, so I can say that it held my attention and kept me invested in the developing relationship between Elizabeth and Mr Darcy. Overall, I have lukewarm feelings toward this book, and would only recommend it if you're looking for an Austen sequel to read.

Teaser Tuesdays (3.2.10)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My reading was a little haphazard this weekend - I kind of flitted from one thing to the next before settling on A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. This is a reread for the Flashback Challenge, and from the minute I opened it I remembered why it's one of my favorite books. I have a used copy of this book, so when I opened it up to a random page to find a teaser I was immediately drawn to a couple of sentences that had been underlined by the previous owner - I guess someone thought they were important! Enjoy!

The Soviets are gone, but he still has the guns, and now he's turning them on innocent people like your parents. And he calls this jihad. What a farce! What does jihad have to do with killing women and children? (p190)

February - Packed to the Brim with Books!

For the shortest month of the year, I managed to get a lot of reading done in February! I didn't think it would happen, but I managed to outdo my January reading (9 books) this month, with 11 books. I think my favorite book that I read this month is Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien, although So Easy by Ellie Krieger gets a special mention for giving me lots of easy, healthy recipes to try! I really enjoyed most of my books this month, the only flop for me being Nanny Returns. Here's a list of all of the books I read this month:

1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
2. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
3. Being Written by William Conescu
4. Nanny Returns by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
5. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum
6. The Confessions of Noa Weber by Gail Hareven
7. The Night Counter by Alia Yunis
8. Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien
9. So Easy: Luscious, Healthy Recipes for Every Meal of the Week by Ellie Krieger
10. Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy:  The Last Man in the World by Abigail Reynolds (Review coming soon!)
11. The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood (Review coming soon!)

February was a great reading month for me... I'm looking forward to seeing what March has in store! I'm hoping to vary my reading with a little more non-fiction - I'm intermittently reading The Blind Side by Michael Lewis between other things and hope to get to The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer in the next few weeks. I also want to branch out and eventually start reading some mystery and/or fantasy books - two genres that I have basically no experience in but would love to explore! Any recommendations?