Book Review: "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell

It is 1986 in Omaha, Nebraska. Park is the only half-Korean kid anywhere that he knows of, and while he has some friends - he mostly just likes to remain unnoticed. Eleanor is the new girl, which would be enough to make her stand out - but she has flaming red hair, the wrong clothes and is a bit on the larger side. She's just trying to make it through the day. When Eleanor and Park meet... well, it's not exactly love at first sight. But they evolve into a love that you really root for - it's the kind of love that could save the world if given the chance... but will they get the chance? Can they have a happily ever after?

I cannot express in words just how much I love love loved this book! Well, not without sounding like a blubbering idiot that is. I fell in love with Rainbow Rowell's writing last summer when I read Attachments. This absolutely exceeded my high expectations. Eleanor has so much going on in her life that is just horrible... she has such low self-esteem, no matter how well she hides it that you just want to reach into the pages and wrap her in a blanket of goodness. Park has his own issues to deal with - not even in the same ballpark as Eleanor's - but enough. The point of view goes back and forth between these two, so you really get to know what they are thinking, how they think, and most importantly - how they feel. And while they feel it all, the reader does too.

I've seen this shelved as a YA book and as Adult fiction, which I think is a tribute to the universal appeal that I feel it has. I loved that it was set in the 80's and Rowell dropped little pop culture nuggets for those of us who remember that time period. But it isn't overdone or cheesy... it doesn't detract from the real story at all, just fills in the scenery for you.

I seriously loved this book. Did I mention that already? These two are REAL to me. I hope they become real for you too.

(I included some of my favorite excerpts in my master post for Dewey's Read-a-thon - you can find them HERE)
*****

Eleanor & Park

by Rainbow Rowell

St. Martin's Press, 2013

325 pages

Source:  Library

*****

Links for purchase:

Shop Your Indie Bookstore!

Amazon

The Book Depository
-----

Book Review: "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston

I've found that there are certain books in this world that you just know are going to be amazing.  I have no idea what the book is about, how the story is told or who the characters are - but I know that I need to read that book.  I mentioned wanting to read Their Eyes Were Watching God to several different people, and every single one who had read it before all seemed to have a similar reaction:  they all sort of sat back, leaned into their memory and sighed...  "That is such a wonderful book."  And now I feel that I will do the same.

This is the story of Janie's life, as told by Janie to her friend Pheoby.  You see, Janie has just returned to her home after being gone quite some time...  she had run off to marry a man younger than her that the town gossip did not quite approve of.  And she came back home, alone.  Naturally, the town wanted to know the story, and had already made up some it on their own - so eager were they for the news and social judgement.  But Janie only tells her story to Pheoby, and it starts a long time before she ever met Tea Cake, the man she had left to go marry.

Janie's story is a story of evolution, of a woman finding her own strength and voice to be herself, to do as she pleases and to really open herself up to giving and receiving pure love.  I was so touched and moved by this story, that I apologize for not yet having all my feelings and thoughts straight.  This really is such a wonderful book.

One thing that always strikes me when reading a book like this is the author's use of language.  A lot of the dialogue is difficult to read at first, as it is written as it sounds as it was spoken by African Americans in that time.  I had to read it slowly and deliberately, and sometimes even out loud to be sure I was understanding what was being said.  This was a pleasure and not a difficulty, as it added a color and richness to the character's voices.  A random example:

"She was borned in slavery time when folks, dat is black folks, didn't sit down anytime dey felt lak it.  So sittin' on porches lak de white madam looked lak uh mighty fine thing tuh her.  Dat's whut she wanted for me - don't keer whut it cost." (p.109)

This dialogue is surrounded by beautifully written prose...  I read this slowly as well because I just enjoyed it so much!  An example:

She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight.  So this was a marriage!    (p. 10-11)

Isn't it lovely?

*****
Their Eyes Were Watching God
by Zora Neale Hurston
Perennial Library, 1990.  First published 1937
184 pages
Source:  Puchased Used
*****
Links for purchase:


Shop Your Indie Bookstore!
Amazon
The Book Depository
-----

Classics Club: Spin #2

I wasn't able to participate in the first Classics Spin.  I tried not to let it get to me, but I couldn't help getting a little jealous about all the fun other members were having with it!  So I'm joining in for this round.  If you're not sure how it works, here are the details:

It’s easy. At your blog, by next Monday, May 20, list your choice of any twenty books you’ve left to read from your Classics Club list – in a separate post.

This is your Spin List. You have to read one of these twenty books in May & June. (Details follow.) So, try to challenge yourself. For example, you could list five Classics Club books you are dreading/hesitant to read, five you can’t WAIT to read, five you are neutral about, and five free choice (favorite author, rereads, ancients — whatever you choose.)

Next Monday, we’ll post a number from 1 through 20. The challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number on your Spin List, by July 1. We’ll have a check in post for July, to see who made it the whole way and finished the spin book.

Not too tough, right?  I'm going to be honest though - I'm not really challenging myself with my choices.  I figure the challenging bit can come when I'm actually finished with school, and I can stick to my plan of fun reading during this summer break.  Though, maybe some of these titles are more challenging than I expect?  I guess I'll find out - here are my 20 books:

1. Lysistrata by Aristophanes
2. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
3. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
4. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
5. Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain
6. The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
7. A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
8. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
9. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
10. Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo
11. Dubliners by James Joyce
12. Junky by William Burroughs
13. The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy
14. Oroonoko by Aphra Behn
15. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
16. Animal Farm by George Orwell
17. 1984 by George Orwell
18. An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde
19. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams
20. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway

Can't wait to see what number comes up!

Edited to add - #6 was drawn!  Looking forward to more Wharton!

-----

Book Review: "I Just Want To Pee Alone" by Some Kick Ass Mom Bloggers

OK, Moms, be honest.  How many times have you uttered the words "I just want to pee alone", probably with an exasperated sigh?  It's okay.  You can admit it.  I've been there.  I, myself,  have been known to take some extra-long showers just to have a some time to myself.  This is my reality as a mom.  In fact, this book is full of short stories written by mothers who are openly talking about some of the dirtier truths of motherhood.  And you know what?  They are funny.  Really funny.  And I don't know about you, but I can always use a bit of funny in my life.

Books by bloggers is one of the latest trends in the publishing business.  There have been many very successful books borne from a blog or other social media in recent history.  You can check out Sh*t my Dad says by Justin Haplern, Let's Pretend This Didn't Happen by Jenny Lawson, PostSecret, among many others as examples.  The difference here, though, is that this is a compilation of over 35 respected "mom bloggers" who have each contributed a short story of something from their perspective of motherhood.  In this way, the reader gets to experience many different voices from many different stages of motherhood.  I really liked this, because it kept every story fresh for me.  After each story is a brief bio on the author, including their blog's name, so you can decide if you'd like to read more from them.

I downloaded this to my Kindle app and read it on two different devices.  So when I had to wait for an appointment or had a few moments to spare, I would pull up this book and read a short story or two (and then try hard to not laugh too loud in public).  I laughed a lot, at the stories that felt as though they were pulled from my own experience, at stories that I can envision playing out with my own children, and especially at stories that I hope never happen to me!  So if you find yourself in need of a quick, easy laugh or too - go ahead and read I Just Want To Pee Alone. 

*****

I Just Want To Pee Alone

by Some Kick Ass Mom Bloggers

@Throat_punch Books, 2013

204 pages

Source:  Purchased New

*****

Link for purchase:

----

Book Review; "Beautiful Creatures" by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

In the small town Gatlin, South Carolina everything stays the same.  The families that live there have always lived there, and the social ladder is set in stone.  Sixteen year old Ethan Wate can't wait to get away - just as soon as he graduates high school.  He wants a change.  Lately, though, he has been having these dreams involving a very beautiful girl...  a girl he's never met or seen before, but a girl that he begins to worry and almost obsess over.  So when the girl of his dreams literally walks into his high school, he doesn't know what to do.  And then things start to get strange, even dangerous.  This girl opens up a whole new world to him - a world that has always existed in what he thought was just a sleepy little town in the South.

I always loved the cover(s) to this novel and the others that follow in the series, but I was always a little hesitant.  I'm not sure why, exactly, but I was.  Then the movie came out earlier this year, and people started talking about it again.  So I thought I'd give it a shot (what the hell, right?) and then check out the movie.  Well......

Let me start with what I liked - I did like that this was told from a male point of view.  I thought that was fun and a little unexpected.  But, I don't know how "male" this narration really was.  I don't know that I ever really bought into it completely.  I also liked that this was set in the South, though a lot of what made it seem like the south was pretty cliched.  I do enjoy history too, and I found the historical connections and flashbacks to the Civil War were interesting.  This was also an interesting paranormal world that the authors created.  Can I say 'interesting' some more?  It is such a boring and nondescript word, and exactly what this book has brought out in me.

But oh my goodness, this book is just way too long!  The book starts out very jumbled and is confusing almost for the sake of being confusing and thinking it is making mystery.  Just about every chapter recounts what happened in the chapters before it and it really makes everything feel sooo slooow.  Then there would be a reference to something else from earlier in the book that you are supposed to remember and I really found myself not caring.  I never understood the "love" between Ethan and Lena and didn't really feel like it developed in any way - it just all of a sudden was.  Because of the dreams?  Because of the other experiences they ended up sharing?  I really didn't feel like I got to know Lena very much at all.  Combine that with a plot that moves at a snails pace and I was mostly just bored through the whole thing.  And I did read the whole thing - even though I really wanted to put it down forever by page 300 or so - I kept going just in case something fantastic happened in the end.  I mean, I just don't get how or why so many people are so nuts over these books?  Is it like The Mortal Instruments series where the writing gets better as the series goes on?  I don't know, but I don't even think I care at this point.  I'm just going to try not to think about all the books I could have read instead of slogging through this one.
*****
Beautiful Creatures
by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Little, Brown Company, 2010
563 pages
Series:  Caster Chronicles #1
Source:  Purchased New
*****
Links for purchase:


Shop Your Indie Bookstore!
Amazon
The Book Depository
-----

Bout of Books 7.0 Master Post

Today marks the start of Bout of Books 7.0!  This entire week I will be striving to read as much as I can - at least more than I normally do :)

Goal:
I'm going to shoot for reading 4 -5 books or 1,200 pages this week, from varying genres and reading levels.  But I'm also hosting my son's birthday party at the end of the week, so my focus will go there come Saturday and certainly Sunday.  Overall, I'm going to push myself, but I'm not going to stress about it all.

I will mark my progress for each day on this post, and then do a wrap-up at the end of the week.  I'll likely write up review posts and schedule them out once the read-a-thon is finished.  

Monday 5/13:

Number of books I've read today:  1*
Number of pages read:  255
Total number of books I've read:  1
Total number of pages:  255
Books:  *Finished Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris, and started Flyaway by Lucy Christopher

Not a bad start for the read-a-thon!  I did spend one hour writing up a review for BookTrib.com though, instead of reading...  but I think I'll allow it :)  *I should also mention that I was 100 pages or so into Dead Ever After when the read-a-thon started.

Tuesday 5/14:

Number of books I've read today: most of 1
Number of pages read: 181
Total number of books I've read: 1
Total number of pages:   436
Books: Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris and Flyaway by Lucy Christopher

I will definitely finish Flyaway today (Wednesday)...  if I were able to stay up an hour or two too late last night, I would have finished it then but I think I chose a place to stop just before the concluding sequence.  Not sure what I'll pick out of the pile next.....  

Wednesday 5/15:

Number of books I've read today: 1
Number of pages read: 194
Total number of books I've read: 2
Total number of pages:   630
Books:  Dead Ever After and Flyaway

I really liked Flyaway!  It was Lucy Christoper's first novel, and now I am even more excited to read Stolen, which has been sitting on my TBR bookcase for almost a year.  Once I finished that, I got into The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway - which I have on my Classics Club list and my TBR Challenge list.  I think I may even be able to count it for my own Back to the Classics Challenge as well!  Also - it's Hemingway, and I love Hemingway.  

Thursday 5/16:

Number of books I've read today: 0
Number of pages read: 34
Total number of books I've read: 2
Total number of pages: 664
Books:  Same as Wednesday

Yeah, a pretty disappointing day reading-wise.  But we had some beautiful weather so I planted my window boxes and things before I went to work for my 'long' day.  I read what I could during break and when I got home... but you can see that didn't add up to much.   I don't work on Friday - so I plan to do a bunch of reading!  I'll have to break that up a bit with cleaning too though, as we are hosting my son's birthday party on Sunday.

Friday 5/17:

Number of books I've read today: 0
Number of pages read: 83
Total number of books I've read: 2
Total number of pages: 747
Books:  Same as before

I definitely wanted to read more, but was far too distracted by life things and what not.  I also started getting ready for my son's birthday party but sadly didn't get as much done with that as I'd hoped either.  I am entering the final sequence in The Sun Also Rises though... so I should finish this book Saturday at the very least!  I don't think it will be quite enough to reach my goals though... oh well.  

Saturday 5/18:

Number of books I've read today: 1
Number of pages read: 59
Total number of books I've read: 3
Total number of pages:  806
Books:  Dead Ever After, Flyaway, and The Sun Also Rises

At least I finished The Sun Also Rises!  I spent most of the day getting ready for Sunday's party and battling my allergies.  So this is likely my last update for this read-a-thon.  Didn't quite make my goals, but I'm happy with what I accomplished.  I still read three books this week!  

Sunday 5/19:

Number of books I've read today: 0
Number of pages read: 40
Total number of books I've read: 3
Total number of pages: 846
Books:  Dead Ever After, Flyaway, The Sun Also Rises and started Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan.

I had roughly 30 min between finishing party clean up and the start of Game of Thrones, so I started the Tan book.  I just had to get some pages in on the final day of the read-a-thon!  I fell short of my goals, but that's okay.  The biggest thing I promised myself was to not get caught up in Downton Abbey - I'm watching it for the first time, and received Seasons 2 & 3 for Mother's Day.  I've only seen episode 1 of Season 2 so far, and I knew if I attempted any more that I could forget about reading this week!  Soooo....  guess what I'm doing next week?  

I hope you all had a great read-a-thon too!  Look for review posts on what I read in the coming weeks.
-----

Book Review: "Hiroshima" by Laurence Yep

A detailed account of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima during World War II.  The actions of the pilot and crew as well as a young villager and her sister are followed from just before the bombing until well after.  A dramatic novella gives middle grade readers insight to this horrific event.

I have to admit that I had some trouble with this one, and it isn't because I became over emotional with it.  It's more that I feel like I didn't get emotional enough.  Though I suppose that would be difficult in so few pages and covering so much history.  But that is me.  I am an adult reader who already has knowledge of this event, and of other horrible things that happen during wars (and outside of wars as well).  I'd like to think that a child without that depth of experience and background knowledge would be properly horrified and saddened by what happens to the little girl in this book.  I don't think they would be driven to nightmares, but I would expect an emotional reaction.  

The story is written in a fairly simple style, with some repetition of phrases so as to make this accessible to those just getting into chapter books but still interesting for those a bit older.  There are plenty of facts as well, and a healthy list of sources to further consult for more information if desired.  

*****

Hiroshima

by Laurence Yep

Scholastic, 1995

56 pages

Source:  Library

*****

Links for purchase:

Shop Your Indie Bookstore!

Amazon

The Book Depository

-----

Book Review: "Hip Hop Speaks to Children" edited by Nikki Giovanni

This is one of the last books that I was required to read for my Child Lit class, and one that I immediately wanted to share with all of you.  This book is so much fun!  Nikki Giovanni put it all together, and explains the origin of rap music - the call and response - and finally got me to understand why some preachers sing their sermons and gospels the way that they do.  But that isn't why I'd use this book with children.

I think this book and its accompanying CD would be best used as is.  Read the poems, listen to the poets and other artists perform the poetry and just get into it!  The rhymes are meaningful and wonderfully rhythmic.  Enjoy the words and poems of such important and incredible poets as Nikki Giovanni, Eloise Greenfield, Langston Hughes, Jacqueline Woodson and Maya Angelou.  But also enjoy the poetry and beats of such poetic artists as Sugarhill Gang, Queen Latifah, and Young MC.  Others included are Kanye West, Mos Def, Jill Scott, Gwendolyn Brooks, Gary Soto, and A Tribe Called Quest.  Not all of the poems in the book are included on the audio CD, but you get to hear about Langston Hughes' inspiration for some poems, and an interpretation of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech (along with his original of course).  All of the poems are easily accessible to children, and in this fun format combined with the vivid illustrations - I see this as a great way to introduce children to perhaps a life long appreciation of poetry.  Or hip hop - as so much of hip hop is poetry.

*****
Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat
edited by Nikki Giovanni
Sourcebooks, 2008
72 pages
Source:  Library
*****
Links for purchase:


Shop Your Indie Bookstore!
Amazon
The Book Depository
-----

Book Review: "The Arrival" by Shaun Tan

In this wordless graphic novel, the reader follows the story of a man who leaves his family in search of work in another land.  The journey is lonely and difficult, and the land in which he arrives is like another world.  Even without words, it is easy to feel deeply what the man is experiencing in these exquisitely drawn illustrations.

I'm happy to say that this is my first graphic novel, though I don't think that it is what you'd call 'typical'.  It came highly recommended by some of my classmates, and I'm glad I listened to them.  All you have to go on is what you see - the pictures in front of you, which if you think about it, is all that a new immigrant would have if they don't know the language of the land.  And this is the story being told; the story of a new immigrant to a land in which he doesn't understand the language or the customs.  He uses pictures to communicate.  The pictures here tell the story.

It is an emotional story too...  the loneliness, the confusion....  happier moments too.  The illustrations are powerful.  I was reminded of Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret - not the story, but the strength and power inherent in the illustration.  I was very impressed by this book.  I don't think it has convinced me to start reading manga or anime graphic novels, but I will look into more like this.  If you know of any that I might like - let me know!

*****
The Arrival
by Shaun Tan
Arthur A. Levine Books, 2006
128 pages
Source:  Library
*****
Links for purchase:


Shop Your Indie Bookstore!
Amazon
The Book Depository

The Arrival

-----