The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Pages: 550
Published: 2007 Knopf
Read For: Book Club 1 & Book Club 2
My Rating: 3.75 stars

This is the review in which I get to apologize for not liking a book as much as I feel I'm supposed to.  I've actually delayed writing about it, because I wish I had my feelings figured out a bit better.

In my mind, this books exists as two disparate stories: that of Liesel and her German foster parents in Nazi Germany (a fabulously executed look at an often neglected point of view,) and that of Death's opinion on what it is to be human and see the elusive big picture.  I loved hearing about Liesel.  I loved how well you get to know her and Hans, Rosa, and Rudy.  It really is a unique treat to come to care for the characters as much as you do in this book. On the other hand, Death remains aloof.  Even though he is the narrator--the character with whom we spend the most time--I never stopped being irritated at his voice and confused about who he really was and how he really did what he did.

I don't have a problem with abstract or random ideas in a book, generally speaking.  (For example, I was just fine with the whole chair incident in The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake.)  But for some reason the character of Death seemed underdeveloped and a bit gimmicky to me.  Parts of the book seemed very well written, while other parts seemed silly.  For example, Rudy had "gangly blue eyes".  Mama sat "scaredly". And a book is described as "numb and gratified, like a beautiful itch".  Those peculiar descriptions, as well as Death's constant "spoilers" just didn't work for me.  They pulled me out of the story and had me thinking about the writing process, authorial intent, and themes...completely forgetting that I had been in the middle of reading a story.

So I understand that Death being a withdrawn, detached, impersonal character is a good representation of death's role in our lives.  That isn't the issue.  I get the symbolism.  I just didn't enjoy it.  I honestly wish that I could extract Liesel's story and separate it from Death's interjections and keep it as a shining snapshot of the beauty that exists in each of us, but we can't take death out of the human picture, can we?  Regardless of how untimely, irritating, or impersonal it might be, no matter how much we'd like to remove it from life...life wouldn't be life without death.

So there you have it.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on the writing style, and the effectiveness in using Death as a narrator...meanwhile, I'll be sitting here in the oddball corner, shamefacedly looking for friends.

Yearly Stats: Reading Choices

What compelled me to read this year's books?

Bibliophilopolis posted some stats for 2010 that I found interesting.  Have you ever looked back on the year's books and separated them into categories based on WHY you chose to read them?

I really like this idea because it is a chance to see if there is a way to adjust next year's reading to make it more rewarding.  After all, the reason I read, ultimately, is for my pleasure.

I've read 111 books this year (so far--hoping I'll be able to fit a couple more in still) and this is how they broke down:

Interest/Mood (for no other reason than I wanted to): 14
Half of these were very average for me, 4 were a bit above average, and the other 4 were definitely above average. (Favorite: Angela's Ashes)

Book Clubs (read for either of my 2 book clubs): 15
1 was rather terrible, 9 were average or a bit above average, 5 were very much above average...some were my favorite books of the year.  I enjoy these discussions so much that I wouldn't change a thing. (Favorites: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Star of the Sea)

Gift/Loan (most were not based on interest, and I think my resulting opinions show that) : 9
3 of these were horrid, 4 were okay, 2 were quite good (these were the more personalized recommendations).  Lesson learned: take only personalized recommendations or do my research before diving in. (Favorite: Precious Bane)

Slimdown (chosen simply because it had been on my shelf too long): 7
In which I discovered that there was a reason why the book had stayed on my shelf for so long, resulting in a newfound skills of using a wishlist instead of buying anything I fancy.  3 were BAD, 3 were fine, 1 was enjoyable. (Favorite: Prayers for Sale)

Read-Aloud to my kiddos (many of these also counted for my Newbery Challenge, although that wasn't the deciding factor in reading them): 24
Pretty good number considering this doesn't count picture books and the like.  There were only 2-3 that disappointed me, but there was only 1 that I really liked.  Most fell into that midrange. (Favorite: The Underneath)

Personal Challenges (Newberys {that weren't read aloud,} Pulitzers, Willa Cather, Classics): 13
Assuming I finish Our Mutual Friend, this number will go up to 14, but still not nearly what I'd like to have accomplished.  I want to focus on this area more in 2011.  6 were Newbery's and were all fairly average.  Of the others, 4 were okay (though I'm glad I read them,) and 3 were very good. (Favorite: The Good Earth)

JF Other (pre-reading for my kiddos): 15
All were pretty good, and I'm pretty happy with the number. These make for a nice break between more serious reads without sacrificing quality. (Favorite: Dragon Slippers)

ARC (through LibraryThing, BookSneeze, or publishers ): 9
Hm, a couple were pretty good, but overall rather disappointing.  I'm sure the pressure of the time-schedule doesn't help.  I need to be more selective with these. (Favorite: Prisoners in the Palace)

Recommendation from a book blog (either direct recommendations, or decisions based on blog reviews and comments): 7
For the most part, these were all fabulous.  The one that wasn't was one that perhaps I should have looked into a bit more before jumping in. (Favorites: Speak, High Fidelity)

Conclusion:
   - let go of some obligations (ARCs and friend's loans)
   - focus more on my challenges and the books you all have helped me put on my wishlist
   - get rid of some of the books on my shelf BEFORE reading them and save myself some frustration.

Have you ever looked at your books in this light?

Now That's a Christmas Tree

Oh I'm loving this.  (thanks craftzine for finding it!)  It's so much better than any of the multitudinous trees I've decorated for my house so far this year.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Title: A Christmas Carol
Author: Charles Dickens
Pages: 180
Published: 1994 Everyman's Library (orig. 1843)
My Rating: 4.5 stars

Did you know that A Christmas Carol has never been out of print?

Did you know that it wasn't until I actually started reading this aloud to my 10 & 11 year old kiddos that I realized I'd never really read the complete, unadapted version?  I thought I had.  I was wrong.

Apart from the short length, this is fully Charles Dickens.  There are the stretches of description, the funny lists and names, the extreme characters.  I was under the impression that it was a children's story, but nothing I can find (other than the fact that it is often published, like the Everyman's copy, for the children's audience) says that it was aimed at children.  Quite the reverse, actually.

So...many rectified misconceptions later, I find myself at last capable of discerning which adaptations are most faithful.  Of course I don't have the time to do the comparisons, so I set my kiddos to the task.  Because I find humor in comparing extremes, I put before them these two versions: (perhaps not as extreme as I could have gone, but funny none-the-less...a Barbie adaptation of anything is bound to be pretty terrible.) Disney's Jim Carey version, and Barbie's version.

Both my 10 year-old daughter (who is a stickler for accuracy) and my [nearly] 12 year-old son (who is a harsh judge of movies in general)  were very impressed with the quality of Disney's version with Jim Carey.  They loved how the phrasing stayed the same, and even kept the book on hand to compare the dialogue.  I guess that means I'm going to have to make the time to watch it (maybe I'll get to it next week--after this coming weekend's mega-Christmas Party becomes an item for the Ghost of Christmas Past).

Barbie, on the other hand, (as I'm sure you've already guessed,) is not even in the running in the accuracy contest.  It's more of the inspired by type of adaptation.  Which means I'm saved from watching it. (whew!)

While I can't say that we will make A Christmas Carol part of a yearly tradition, (I'm not really the yearly tradition type anyhow) I can say that I'm glad we read it.  It's a good story, and a nice bite-sized chunk of Dickens that my kiddos have now been exposed to.  Reading it in high school won't be half so intimidating now, right?

Setting my Teeth on Edge

Oh what fun it is to talk of our Literary Pet Peeves! (set to the tune of Jingle Bells, of course...it is December after all.)  This weekend is sure to be full of more great book talk--go to The Blue Bookcase to see what everyone else is saying, or better yet, join the conversation!

And yes, the punctuation/spelling/grammatical errors induce immediate eye rolling.  But there is something else that, without fail, has me issuing dramatic groans and occasional shouts of disgust.  I don't know what to call it other than The Intrusive Author.

By saying The Intrusive Author, I'm not necessarily meaning those few times when the author interjects a thought into the narrative.  It is possible for that to be well done and enjoyable.  Nor am I talking about the narrator of the book, who is often a different personality than the author himself.  I'm talking about the times when the author's voice itself is so loud that it interrupts the story at hand.  Perhaps the best way to demonstrate what I mean is to give a few examples (links go to my reviews).

My most recent experience with this was with The Alchemist.  Of course, this was an allegory, so the author's voice is naturally going to be less disguised.  But did he really have to repeat his main point, word for word, quite so many times?  Even in allegory, one ought to be able to show the main point instead of telling it.

Before The Alchemist was Thirteen Reasons Why.  I felt that I never really heard the main character in the book, or any of the characters for that matter, only the author being all deep and dramatic.  The whole thing felt contrived, like the author's smug mug was in front of me the whole time.

Also this year was Chabon's Gentlemen of the Road.  Not a good introduction to Chabon (even the girl in my book club who chose the book based on her love for him started the conversation by apologizing.)  If you can read the first chapter of this book and not find yourself wanting to have a discussion with the author about thesaurus abuse, then I'm impressed.

When I read a book I want to get a little lost: in the language, the story, the characters, the setting, the ideas.  Whether it is fiction or nonfiction, adult, or junior, I want to think about the topic of the book.  If the author himself (herself) prevents that, then why on earth am I reading the book?

Last Chance for Nominations

7 short December days remain until the nominations are cut off for the Indie Lit Awards.  On December 15th (next Wednesday) we will have the short list of which books the book blogging community would like to see recognized.

Apart from Literary Fiction, there are also the following categories: GLBTQ, Mystery, Non-Fiction, and Speculative Fiction.

This is an International effort, bloggers from any country can nominate a book from any country.  What is the best 2010 had to offer?

We've had some good books nominated for Literary Fiction thus far:

• 32 Candles, Ernessa T. Carter 
• A Visit From the Good Squad, Jennifer Egan 
• Annabel, Kathleen Winter 
• Banned for Life, D.R. Haney 
• Beside the Sea, Veronique Olmi 
• Bitter in the Mouth, Monique Truong 
• C, Tom McCarthy 
• The Cookbook Collector, Allegra Goodman 
• Great House, Nicole Krauss 
• How To Be An American Housewife, Margaret Dilloway 
• How to Read the Air, Dinaw Mengestu 
• The Invisible Bridge, Julie Orringer 
• The Irresistible Henry House, Lisa Grunwald 
• The Kitchen House, Kathleen Grissom 
• The Lonely Polygamist, Brady Udall 
• Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, Helen Simonson 
• Matterhorn, Karl Marlantes 
• Misadventure, Millard Kaufman 
• Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins 
• The Passage, Justin Cronin 
• Revenge: A Fable, Taslima Nasrin 
• Room, Emma Donoghue 
• Safe From the Sea, Peter Geye 
• Saints in Limbo, River Jordan 
• Secrets of Eden Chris Bohjalian 
• The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell 

Have you read any of these?  The short list will be decided by which book gets the most votes, so if you agree with one of these nominations, go to this page and give your opinion.

Night Letter to the Reader

Thanks to you, my literary friends, and the fabulous group at The Blue Bookcase, my horizons are expanding.

I love that feeling.  I love branching out, the wonder of voluntarily being forced into new experiences.

Before this last weekend was over I had ordered two books of poetry: Billy Collins and Wendell Barry. One small poem from each of these I read, and knew I needed to read more.  Wendell Barry had this simple thought expressed in few words:

LIKE SNOW 

Suppose we did our work
like the snow, quietly, quietly
leaving nothing out.


I love that!  I haven't received the book yet, so that's all I've experienced so far (via the handy dandy Amazon preview) but I'm looking forward to reading more.  I did receive Nine Horses by Billy Collins today, however, and fell in love with his intro poem:

NIGHT LETTER TO THE READER

I get up from the tangled bed and go outside,
a bird leaving its nest,
a snail taking a holiday from its shell,

but only to stand on the lawn,
an ordinary insomniac
amid the growth systems of garden and woods.

If I were younger, I might be thinking
about something I heard at a party,
about an unusual car,

or the press of Saturday night,
but as it is, I am simply conscious,
an animal in pajamas,

sensing only the pale humidity
of the night and the slight zephyrs
that stir the tops of the trees.

The dog has followed me out
and stands a little ahead,
her nose lifted as if she were inhaling

the tall white flowers,
visible tonight in the darkened garden,
and there was something else I wanted to tell you,

something about the warm orange light
in the windows of the house,
but now I'm wondering if you are even listening

and why I bother to tell you these things
that will never make a difference,
flecks of ash, tiny chops of ice.

But this is all I want to do--
tell you that up in the woods
a few night birds were calling,

the grass was cold and wet on my bare feet,
and that at one point, the moon,
looking like the top of Shakespeare's

famous forehead,
appeared, quite unexpectedly,
illuminating a band of moving clouds.


Ah!  Is this what poetry is all about?  Here I've been, missing out on something fabulous.  These guys know how to express a thought, don't they?

Finders Keepers

New books for me, new books for you...I'm doing some shopping and some purging, how much fun is that?

Mine:
I allowed myself into a bookstore this week, on the pretense that I needed to do some Christmas shopping...and I did buy a couple of things for my Secret Santa exchange people...but I found even more exciting things for my own shelves.  As a side note, I love how my Indie Book Shop has separated Literary Fiction from other Adult Fiction, although it caught me off guard how many times I found myself internally scoffing and sending hate vibes at certain titles.  The Alchemist? Gah! *rolls eyes*  Despite my protestations, I came home with 7 new treasures:

1. The Road (will be reading this for my Back to Classics Challenge in 2011)
2. The Faulkner Reader (A review on Tinkers made me think I might like Faulkner.  We shall find out.)
3. Snow (I've already read this, but passed it on...needed it back on my shelf.)
4. Anna Karenina (I've read this already as well, but it was ages ago and I didn't have my own copy.)
5. Slaughterhouse Five (Literary Science Fiction?  If anything can make me appreciate SF, this might be it.)
6. The Elephant Vanishes (I'm hoping that I'll find something in here to foist onto the guys in my house)
7. Angle of Repose (Stegner's name has popped up a few times lately, and as this one's a Pulitzer, I figured I'd be buying it sooner or later anyhow.)

Yours:
These books are either ARCs that I'm ready to pass on, or titles that I'm replacing with a prettier copy.  All are in very good condition.  Do you want one?  Leave me a comment and it's yours, (first come, first serve, US only because of cost--sorry!) available for the next week or so...when I'll find somewhere else for them to go.

1. The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Buchanan (ARC, novel centered around the history of Niagara Falls)
2. Dubliners by James Joyce (Inexpensive Dover Thrift copy, bottom edge wasn't cut very well, but otherwise pretty much perfect.)
3. My Antonia by Willa Cather (Barnes and Noble edition)
4. Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor (LOVED this book...will definitely find someone to pass it on to if you guys don't want it.)
5. Anne Bradstreet by D.B. Kellogg (short biography on this Puritan poet's life.)
6. Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
7. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
8. The Troll Garden by Willa Cather (Cather's 2nd published work; a collection of short stories.)

I'm a Poet and I Just Know That I Am

poetry?  I'm so torn about poetry.  I love poetic prose, but often poetry itself does nothing for me.  I can't say I dislike it (although I know many people who do say that) because I'm often inspired to write it.  Not very well, I'm sure.  But still.

Oh, and the length.  Once poems stretch beyond a couple of dozen lines I drift off and lose concentration.  Somehow, when reading a novel I have great focus and introspection, but in poems I much prefer something that doesn't need dissecting.  Something with wit.  These are the kind of poems I write:

Haiku for the Errant Turn Signal

Ever blinking light

Falsely suggesting intent

Unaware driver

coffee

caffeine

opening eyes

freshly ground

flaming hot

energy burst

everything is beautiful

bored

Expectations, unreasonable, unseasonable

Balking, pouting, sore.

Excursions, endurable, interminable

Waiting, sitting, bored.

So, would it make sense to say that I love the poetry of language, but don't love the language of poetry?  

I feel like I'm reading poetry all the time, yet I don't know that I have a favorite.  They just don't stick in my head like full-length works.  I did love this one, though, by Willa Cather (in her only published collection of poetry) titled L'ENVOI

Where are the loves that we had loved before

When once we are alone, and shut the door?

No matter whose the arms that held me fast,

The arms of Darkness hold me at the last.

No matter down what primrose path I tend,

I kiss the lips of Silence in the end.

No matter on what heart I found delight,

I come again unto the breast of Night.

No matter when or how love did befall,

'Tis Loneliness that loves me best of all,

And in the end she claims me, and I know

That she will stay, though all the rest may go.

No matter whose the eyes that I would keep

Near in the dark, 'tis in the eyes of Sleep

That I must look and look forever more,

When once I am alone, and shut the door.

But see how it's all depressing?  Where are the witty poets? Not funny, slapstick, silly, har-har stuff...I want something clever, like Bite Size Jane Austen.  That's what I want.  Any suggestions for me?

(Thanks to The Blue Bookcase for supplying great topics for literary conversation!)

A Mixed Bag

Item 1: The deadline is quickly approaching for the Indie Lit Awards!  The deadline to nominate your favorite Published in 2010 book (in any category) is December 15th. 

Apart from some ARCs, I think the only 2010 book I read was The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake...did I like it enough to nominate it?  Hmm, yeah, probably...better to have a LONG long list than a short long list, right?  The more options the better?  

Also, check out this post (by You Fight Like Anne Rice!) about the Indie Lit Awards with some great little graphs tallying the nominations in the different categories.  Do you agree with the books in the lead? 

Item 2: I read 9 books this month (titles link to my reviews) in a nice variety of genres and ratings.
99. Thunderstruck, Erik Larson—3.5 stars, Nonfiction
100. The Alchemist, Paul Coelho—1.5 stars, Adult Fiction
101.  Henry Huggins, Beverly Cleary—3.5 stars, Junior Fiction
102.  Tinkers, Paul Harding—4 stars, Pulitzer Prize Winning Adult Fiction
103.  Dubliners, James Joyce—3 stars, Classic Fiction (short stories)
104.  Deconstructing Penguins, Lawrence & Nancy Goldstone—3.5 stars, Nonfiction
105.  The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood—4 stars, Adult Fiction
106. Fitness Illustrated, Brian Sharkey—ARC from LT, 2.5 stars, Nonfiction (LT review here)
107. A Girl From Yamhill, Beverly Cleary—4 stars, Nonfiction


Item 3: I'm afraid it's time to start making some concessions on my Fall In

to Reading Challenge. With only December left, and 9 hefty books still unread, (still only 5 completed) reality is forcing its way in.

IN PROGRESS:
Our Mutual Friend (1/4 done...600 some odd pages to go...I WILL finish this by the end of the year.)

STILL WAITING:
Possession  (looking forward to reading this, though a little nervous it won't live up to my expectations)
The Children's Blizzard (planning on reading this NF over my snowy Christmas break)
Paddy's Lament (another NF, this very well may fall into the 2011 pile)
How Green Was My Valley (looking forward to this re-read from high school)
Independence Day (Pulitzer Prize winner...but 2nd in a trilogy.  Should I read the first one first? Does it matter?)
A Room With a View (oh yeah.  I was going to read this in 2010. might make that 2011.)

GIVING UP:

Rooted in Barbarous Soil (still no progress, who am I kidding? this one's gonna stay on the shelf for a while)

Three Cups of Tea (Is this a necessary read?  I confess I'm not at all interested, but I can get past that if it's worthwhile)

Item 4:  Remember that conversation we were just having about modern or contemporary classics?  I was browsing Everyman's Library collections of books (inspired by Thomas' beautiful collections)  and realized that the more modern books that Everyman's Library publishes are call Contemporary Classics.  I can picture Debbie from ReaderBuzz shaking her head at that.