I'm pretty sure my friend Diqui loaned me this book, so it isn't one that I chose myself. However, it was a good read, and I'd recommend it to someone looking for a thoughtful ChickLit selection--perfect for the beach or airplane in particular. The cover of the book quotes Booklist as saying, "A novel about friendship and sisterhood for readers who like Fannie Flagg and Adriana Tragiani," and I'd say that's quite accurate.
The book is set in the early 1970s, when two childhood friends are reunited. Despite the different directions they have taken--hometown, responsible girl versus free-spirited hippie--in the nine years since they last saw each other, Button and Winnalee instantly rekindle a deep friendship. With a cast of other strong women models, and a few men in the background, they forge a partnership to redefine who they are and where they are headed. There are the expected ups and down, with ups winning overall, making this is a slightly sentimental but well-written summer book.
I picked up this advance proof in the free box at my local bookstore, Northtown Books, some time ago, so it wasn't really on my radar. When I read the author bio before starting the book, my expectations weren't too high, as this is the first novel published by 26-year-old Krokos. Despite this inauspicious start, the book proved to be interesting enough that I read it over the course of two evenings, staying up until 1:00 am on the second night to finish it. (If you know me at all, you know that's late for me.) It's a solid TeenLit read, of the we're-being-experimented-on/-used for-nefarious-purposes genre of teen books. Okay, so that may not be an official literary genre, but if you read enough TeenLit, you certainly can recognize it as a clear type.
The novel begins with Miranda gaining consciousness in an Ohio shopping mall with no memory other than her name. She quickly learns that she is not the typical teen, however, as her confusion and fear lead her to start a panicked stampede in the mall that results in the deaths of several people. She does this, a boy named Peter who has tracked her to this mall informs her, with her brainwaves. Unable to doscount this fact due to a loss of memory, and the all-too-clear evidence of trampled bodies, she accepts Peter's word and heads "home" with him.
Home ends up being an underground bunker in rural Ohio, where Miranda learns that she is a Rose--a genetically altered teen whose purpose will be to avoid violent bloodshed. Or so she and the three other Roses (called such because they can detect each other's brainwaves by the scent of roses) have been raised to believe. Since I already told you the genre we're working with, you know just how likely that peaceful scenario is.
Although it's a new twist on a common theme, replete with handsome love interests, the sciency nature of the premise--as well as some good action and plot turns--make this a good read. I'll keep my eyes out for future Krokos books, which will likely include the sequel this obviously set up.
I read and commented on the first two novels in Larsson's trilogy earlier this summer, but it took me some time to get back to my iPad and finish the third. Traveling to and from Comic Con earlier this month gave me the perfect opportunity to finish things up, and thrillers tend to be perfect airport and airplane reading--exciting enough to keep my attention but not deep enough to require real focus. All in all, I'd say that the third book follows through well and keeps the momentum started in the second book of the trilogy.
At first I was skeptical that the plot established in volume two would sustain itself for a whole third volume, but Larsson does a good job creating and revealing a complicated government conspiracy--overflowing with bad guys of all types that just can't stop doing bad stuff. It's scary and evil, but just bungled and self-serving enough to make it believable. Even more remarkably, Larsson manages to make the generally unlikeable Salander, the primary victim/protagonist of the series, a sympathetic character. I've been trying to think of a comparable literary accomplishment, but nothing comes to mind. I mean, even the people who support and defend this girl for a variety of reasons don't know how to relate to her, can't really say she is their friend, and are hard pressed to say that they really like her. Yet, somehow I actually cared about what happened to her.
Maybe it's a Swedish thing. Until I read Lars Keplar and Hakan Nesser, as recommended by a friend and my mom, I can't be too sure.
I earned a MA in literature, and my field of interest was primarily contemporary North American feminist authors. I also have what a librarian friend not-so-jokingly refers to as "the largest comic and graphic novel collection in northern California." As you may suspect, it is not too often that these two reading passions intersect, so it was with great joy that I scanned the 2012 Comic Con schedule and found a session entitled "Inside the Shadow Show: Ray Bradbury's Lasting Impact on Literature, Comics, and Beyond," featuring Margaret Atwood--three of whose novels formed the basis of my thesis.
I wasn't so far astray from my early roots to have missed the Atwood's recent novels and poetry, of course, but I hadn't been keeping up on her nonfiction. The closest I'd come in this regard was following her on Twitter, where she has plenty to say on a wide range of political and social topics. (Note: unlike plenty of other well-known folks, Atwood is responsible for all her own tweets.) Before I saw my idol in person, I searched to see what I had missed. In addition to a few recent digital story releases, I found I had overlooked In Other Worlds, published in 2011. I uploaded the iBook in the Portland airport, happy that Atwood is an important enough author that her non-fiction is available quickly in eFormat.
Without a doubt, this is the fastest I have read a work of non-fiction in memory. I read plenty of fiction, but non-fiction volumes usually end up piled next to the bed, waiting until I decide to pick them up and read a chapter between novels; Non-fiction on my iPad usually faces an even less active fate, but I found myself reading right through Atwood's reflection. That's really what it is, too: Atwood's musings on what she refers to as Speculative Fiction (what others generally categorize as Science Fiction)--a distinction she has been criticized for, but which holds up well in her telling of it. The book is a collection of material, loosely divided into three sections: the first in which Atwood discusses SF by way of Beowulf, Twilight, and everything in between, illustrated with drawings she made as a nine-year old (and not included in the print version of the book); the second in which she republishes reviews and analyses she wrote about SF works from recent centuries--from folks such as Swift, Huxley, Wells, Piercy, LeGuin, and Ishiguro; and the third in which she includes five short SF pieces she authored over the years.
All in all, the book was interesting and thought-provoking, as I was able to tell Atwood myself during the signing session after the panel ended. She smiled kindly in response. Either that, or she was smiling at the fact that I had purchased both the eBook and hardcover editions, recognizing that readers like me who want signatures from authors like her are one reason that print books may not be altogether obsolete in a double-profit future she imagines.
Anyone who knows me well is aware of the fact that I am a big fan of Margaret Atwood's work. I've read everything she's written, whether poetry, fiction, children's picture books (Princess Prunella and the Purple Peanut is a favorite of mine.) or nonfiction, and I wrote my master's thesis on three of her novels--exploring the way women use power in relationships with each other. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that I'd be willing to shell out $2.99 and $1.99--the cost of these two publications on iBooks--for two short stories. You might not be so eager to do so, but I for one have no regrets.
I'm Starved for You (I'm waffling on the choice of quotation marks or italics here, but I've decided to use italics as this is a single publication, despite its short length.) is what Atwood would refer to as a piece of ustopian speculative fiction. In an America that is spiraling into violence, poverty, and environmental degradation, one corporation finds a solution--and a way to maintain a comfortable profit margin. People are invited to volunteer to serve as inmates at a prison for monthly shifts, alternating with others who share their house when they are incarcerated. In this manner, people trade personal freedom for security and comfort. I'm sure you won't be surprised to find out that it's not quite that simple.
In I Dream of Zenia with the Bright Red Teeth, readers get to revisit characters from The Robber Bride. Roz, Charis, and Tony have weathered the years together and still provide emotional support across their different social circles. In this story, Charis reports on a dream she had, starring their former enemy, now deceased, dressed in a wolf's coat, and Roz and Tony spend time dissecting it and offering Charis advice about her love life and Billy's return to the scene. The story itself is charming, but what I really enjoyed was being reunited with these old friends. Anyone who was a fan of The Robber Bride will enjoy this story, with the only disappointment being that we didn't get more time with Charis, Roz, and Tony.
This is a HUGE book, and I'm a little over half way finished. I'm posting the entry now to encourage me to finish it. (It's too big to travel with, so it's not the best choice for my summer-traveling schedule!) So far I like the book and Muakami's writing, and am deterred only by said bulk, so let me know what you think if you've read it. A bit of a pep talk--without spoilers, please-- will help to spur me on. If you decide to read it, I highly recommend the e-version or the paperback, which was recently released in a three-volume set.
7/30 update: I forgot to grab this off the nightstand before my recent travels, and I've yet to get back to it. I will resume my reading soon, however: I want to both see how it concludes and get the massive volume off my bedside table.
I did finally finish this--sometime in September, I believe. Interesting but odd, and very Japanese, if that makes sense to you. I'll have to read another Murakami book before I decide whether or not I like him.
If you follow this blog, you know that I'm a Stephen King fan. For more on this--and for reviews of King books I've read since January 2011--simply click on the King tag in the right-hand column of my blog and you can catch up with my King fandom.
Now that you are caught up, I'll have to say that I may love Stephen King books, but it's his Dark Tower series that I love the most. Interestingly, the seven novels that make up King's original Gunslinger tales are likely the least known of his books. He's much more popular for his horror novels, and, while I'm a fan of those books as well, the Dark Tower series is superior for those who like books about fantasy worlds, such as Tolkien's Lord of the Rings or Pulling's His Dark Materials series. Since the books were published between 1974 and 2004 (Yep, that's a 30-year span, but you're a lucky reader because you won't have to wait for the next book to come out as I did!), I haven't reviewed them here, so let me provide you with a summary borrowed by the Official Dark Tower website: "The Dark Tower series tells the story of Roland Deschain, Mid-World’s
last gunslinger, who is traveling southeast across Mid-World’s
post-apocalyptic landscape, searching for the powerful but elusive
magical edifice known as The Dark Tower. Located in the fey region of
End-World, amid a sea of singing red roses, the Dark Tower is the nexus
point of the time-space continuum. It is the heart of all worlds, but
it is also under threat. Someone, or something, is using the evil
technology of the Great Old Ones to destroy it." If that intrigues you, click this link to visit the site for more details about the books, their inspiration (Browning and Tolkien), etc.
Frankly, while this book claims to be a stand-alone volume, a supplement that would fall somewhere between volumes four and five in the series timeline, I wouldn't recommend it if you aren't familiar with the Gunslinger and his ka-tet--Eddie, Susannah, and Jake--and their billy-bumbler companion named Oy. While King goes to some pains to explain these characters (and the entire series premise) in a foreword, it seems to me that the world within the pages of this book would be much paler and shallow without the knowledge of the kingdom of Gilead and its demise that are explored in the earlier books. If you're looking for a great new world of adventure, I'd certainly start by reading the first four books in the Dark Tower series and adding this as volume 4.5.
Now! Read them now! (Really, I highly recommend the series and am a bit jealous that you have the chance to encounter them for the first time.)
One caution: While I compared the Gunslinger books to Tolkien and Pullman--both with series read by younger audiences--King's books are for more mature readers. While they are by no means overly graphic, they do contain references to sex, drugs, and violence, and the characters swear just about as much as do a good number of humans you know. I'd say that these books are most appropriate for the teens and mature 'tweens of parents who understand that kids can read literature with adult themes and benefit accordingly.
