Estella's Revenge

Pulling the Trigger on "Influence" in Book Blogging

2012-01-26T17:31:00.001-06:00

I stay out of drama. I'm not about drama in the blogosphere because, generally speaking, this site is my happy place. To put things in perspective, I've been blogging for seven years as of February 21st (I've already written the happy, gushy post). I was here before review books and NetGalley. I was here before authors and bloggers started quibbling. I was here before there was a debate over what constitutes a "review" or a "reaction." I was here before it was cool. I was here before it made money. I was here and I remain here because I love to read, and I really love the friends I've made online. I adore sharing ideas with you.

Today, however, was something of a tipping point for me. I've already had icky feelings (quietly, and in my own brain) over what feels like the publishing industry gaining (or attempting to exert) more "control" over blogging. It started with ARCs. Everyone wanted ARCs. Publishers started e-mailing, authors started e-mailing, the review copies started sliding through the door. This was years ago, mind you. But publishers started dangling carrots! Unlike most, I have never felt one iota of obligation to review a book unless it's something I specifically requested from a publisher or publicist. Even then, I make it really clear that if I don't want to review a book, I won't. If I don't like it. If I'm too busy. Because it's my blog. And my blog is mine.

After the scramble for ARCs started, the scramble for "traffic" started. Everyone wanted to talk about how to increase traffic and "brand" their blog. We came up with lists of best practices and what-not-to-dos. Everyone hopped on Twitter and Tumblr and Facebook and Ning and Goodreads and Shelfari and had to be plugged in all the time.

Am I different? No. I'm not. I admit it 100%. My blog has a "look," I have a Twitter account and a Tumblr account and a Facebook fan page. I used to run a 'zine for BLOGGERS (not for publishers). But do you want to know why? Because I like to talk to my friends who read. Because the bloggers I know are the only friends in my life who read.

But something that "old age" in blogging has taught me and that I see more all the time is this: we are a tool. We are an available and fertile market. We publicize what needs publicizing, mostly, for free. I've also learned that I don't want to be dictated to. I don't want to be pushed or nudged or shoved into anything.

As I logged into NetGalley the other day for the first time in months, I realized something--some publishers are getting pushy! A surprising number of publishers now want to know how many visitors visit one's blog in a day or a week or a month. How many people subscribe to one's blog? How quickly one can review a book?

And do you know what I have to say to these "guidelines" and these demands?

KEEP THEM.

To the wonderful, polite, genuine publishers, publicists, and many many authors I've worked with here over the years, thank you! This anger is not for you. That's really important. But it seems like every day this idea of book blogging is becoming more mechanized and impersonal at the hands of external forces.

At the end of the day, the most important thing to me about blogging is the reading I do. It's the friends with whom I share my words. I don't want to feel pushed around. I don't want to feel purchased. I want to feel liberated because that's always what reading and blogging have done for me -- they've freed me! Freed me to open my mind and think new thoughts. They've freed me to write my experiences and send them out into the world with confidence.

Come hell or high water, ARCs, no ARCs, publisher inquiries or not. Social networking or not. Obligation or not. I will read. I will write about what I read. I will read and write what I want and what is in my heart. And I hope that as a group that is always our goal. Our ultimate and most cherished goal. To be truthful and open-minded and collegial to one another, no matter what external forces are at work, exerting influence. I can tell you this: whether it's another seven days or another seven years, this blog is mine. It is the essence of who I am as a reader, and reading is a part of my soul in a way that nothing else is. Sharing my reading and all that is literary is my job every day and my hobby, too. I am lucky. I am blessed to do what I love. I will always read what I want. I'll write what I want. And I will do so feeling strong and never intimidated by what I should do with an Internet home of my own making.

Limitations are not welcome here.

Re-Reading and Remembering

2012-01-25T12:41:00.001-06:00

Re-reading is something I didn't do for a very long time. Occasionally I would grab a book for a re-read when I was in a slump, but I've also long wished to re-read more often, to enjoy books again, or to re-evaluate them with a little (or a lot) more age. I missed yesterday's "freebie" day for Top Ten Tuesday, so I thought I'd throw these out for today instead. These are the top ten (ok, eleven) books I would like to re-read including my impressions of them as I remember them and the time in my life they take me back to visit.

From my high school days:

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway made me hate Hemingway! I read it as a 9th grader with no idea about anything in the world. The main character seemed antiquated and yucky and "why would he care so much about this fish?" I hated it. I'm curious what age and some additional literary expertise would do to my opinions of this slim novel.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens was my second or third Dickens novel. Great Expectations was the first. I read it as a 9th grader and later undertook A Tale of Two Cities as a senior taking concurrent high school/college English courses. While I didn't first love it as much as GE, it's really stuck with me in a similar way. I remember a lot of the characters, I remember specific scenes and impressions, but it's another novel I think worth revisiting. It's also the best opening paragraph in literature!

From my early 20s:

The Red Tent by Anita Diamont was one of the first novels I read at the recommendation of Yahoo! Groups book discussion groups. At 21, I had not been reading for several years, but I'd just started back. As a student at Baylor, I spent a good deal of time in the art section of the library and picked up a slim biography of Auguste Rodin, the sculptor. That was all I needed to get back into the groove of reading for pleasure. When I joined the book discussion groups, I met a lot of the bloggers I'm still friends with today and I began to read outside of anything I'd read before. At this particular point in my life, I could go into a bookstore and be completely overwhelmed because I had no idea what to read. This novel was beautiful and thoughtful and everything I knew I wanted to read more of.

Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross was another book I read at the recommendation of my book group buddies. It was a wooonderfully involving historical novel about a supposed female pope in the 9th century. My book group also had the opportunity to chat with the author, which is when I first realized how accessible many authors are to their readers. And what a delight that was to discover!

The Hours by Michael Cunningham made me think very seriously about womanhood and motherhood. At the time, at the age I was when I read it, I found it somewhat terrifying, but I could also relate to some of the feelings of isolation as I devoured it shortly after my grandmother passed away. It's one of the most oddly uplifting and hopeful books I've ever read, and the closing paragraphs remain my favorite conclusion of a novel.

From graduate school:

Call it Sleep by Henry Roth is one of those classics that not many people discuss anymore. It sort of got passed over in favor of other novels. An American Modernism professor introduced this book, and I remember camping out under the breakroom table in the university writing center inhaling this one before class time. It's a stunning novel of the immigrant experience that incorporates some of the bravery and experimental elements of the Modernist period.

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak was a cryfest! It was also one of the best discussions we had in my Adolescent Lit class. I found an affinity for Holocaust novels in graduate school in all their incarnations. This was just a great book, and I'm still fond of the narrator, Death.

The Golems of Gotham by Thane Rosenbaum is sadly underread. It came to me by way of the same professor who introduced Call it Sleep. It's a wonderful mishmash of magical elements, history, and Holocaust. Specifically, it deals with the ways in which Holocaust families inherit the Holocaust trauma. It contains some of the most wonderful passages...

Despair, if nothing else, is a private matter. The mind isn't required to share such information. That's because the soul is the master of its own short-circuitry, the system shutdown, the fading pulse that monitors the brokenness of both spirit and heart. When a state of mind sinks to a point where the life itself--the day-to-day engagements, the nightly slumber and silences--becomes unbearable, who are we to second-guess or armchair analyze? There was no way to properly insert oneself inside the minds of the Levins and follow the logic of [Holocaust]survivors who would one day choose a synagogue as the setting to turn off their own life-support systems.

Mail Order Bride by Mark Kalesniko is a graphic novel I don't hear too much about. I read it right after grad school and found the characters to be a lot of fun: a nerdy, virginal husband and a waify, aloof mail order bride. This one was full of multi-ethnic issues that I felt compelled by and it was a lot of fun to discuss the book via conference call with the author.

From then on...

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger was just fabulous. I loved the premise, the execution, and it made me bawl like a baby. I'm kind of a sucker for books that grab me by the heartstrings.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is the most recent book on my list, so I won't gush any more than I already have. This is one of those books that was atmospheric enough and twisty enough and quirky enough that I want to feel the same sense of wonder again. I'll wait for the memory to fade a bit and pull the book out when I need to revisit that sense of fantasy.

Twisty, Twisty Books: Literary Fiction and Inextricable Genres

2012-01-24T06:00:00.003-06:00

Last year I made it my mission to read literary fiction and it's been seven months that I've had this little scheme in action. I loved the books I read last year so it was a no-brainer to continue into the new year.

When I started this journey I wrote a post titled, "Why Literary Fiction and What the Heckfire Is It?" After these seven months of ruminating, I've pretty much decided that literary fiction is fiction marketed as literary fiction. I think I'm also still keen on my original definition that, "authors who write literary fiction might have more of an agenda than the average bear." Literary fiction is also (typically) critically well-received. This is the trifecta, you see: agenda, marketing, critical reception.

Notice, the trifecta definition does not exclude any genre, and that leads me to my next lightbulb...

As a result of the literary fiction post I linked above, Carl and I had a great conversation about the rub between literary fiction and genre fiction and how MANY MANY MANY literary fiction works do include an element of some genre or other: sf, historical, etc. It was interesting to go back and revisit this conversation Carl and I had because I've been spending a lot of time thinking over the books I read last year and gazing at my immediate TBR, and I know something very specific about my literary fiction tastes after seven months of this personal project: I MUCH prefer literary fiction that incorporates a specific genre or some sort of unique angle.

Of the 20 or so books on my immediate To Be Read pile, it seems to me that the majority of them have a very specific angle or incorporate multiple genres. Let's have a sample...

Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin - historical, retelling of Alice Liddell Hargreaves’s life
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro - sci-fi
The Uncoupling by Meg Wolitzer - retells or makes overarching references to Lysistrata
Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters - historical, GLBTQ

This is a really small sample, but I think it illustrates what I'm driving at. Seems to me "literary fiction" is a genre imposed from the outside by publishers and consumers. Any genre can be literary fiction if the conditions are right.

The literary fiction titles on my shelves tip the scales heavily toward historical novels (The Sisters Brothers, C), retellings or homages (Wicked), and sci-fi/fantasy or magical realism (The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake). Even within these examples it's almost impossible to distinguish one genre-within-a-genre from another! Wicked was a retelling/homage but also a fantasy. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake was magical realism with a bit of historical thrown in.

I suppose what the last seven months have done for me is to really help me pinpoint and refine my tastes. It's brought me a greater sense of self-awareness (and shelf awareness!) and has made me realize exactly how closely bound all genres really are and how silly it is to get into a tizzy over genre lines. I don't tizzy, but some readers most definitely do.

In conclusion, I really want to thank all of you who responded to my original post back in June 2011 and those of you who come here and converse with me over these bookish thoughts. You bloggers, you make me think and by allowing me to discuss these items with you, allow me to understand myself and my reading better all the time.

Short and Antsy

2012-01-23T07:13:00.000-06:00

I mentioned yesterday I'm still in the midst of Madame Bovary, and while I'm still in the midst of it today, I did knock off another 50 pages or so last night. In my 740-page e-book (it's usually half that in print), I'm on page 400. I hope I can have this one wrapped up this week. Heather and I have been discussing this one behind the scenes as we go, and I can't wait to dig in with her some more! So much to talk about.

Yesterday morning, I was feeling just a tad antsy with Madame B. so I decided to take Nancy's advice and start reading a smaller book to keep me feeling energized. I picked up Jessica Abel's graphic novel, La Perdida. My first encounter with Abel's work was back in 2009 when I read her funky vampire graphic novel, Life Sucks. I re-read my review of Life Sucks and it brought back a lot of the details that I'd forgotten. Abel has an interesting take on life and a distinct humor. I see it coming through in La Perdida, but I already have a few problems with it. I'll hold my judgement until I'm done, but I'm thinking a post on multi-ethnic literature and criticism is in order.

I have a few review books I've accepted recently, so those are on the horizon immediately after MB and La Perdida. First up is Kergan Edwards-Stout's novel, Songs for the New Depression. I was already looking forward to this one, but even moreso since it's shortlisted in the GLBTQ category for this year's Indie Lit Awards. I admit, I'm woefully underread in GLBTQ lit, so this should be good!

After posing my question yesterday about which book I should read next from my TBR, it looks like I Capture the Castle takes the cake! I'm planning to read it in the next couple of weeks, and I'm really excited about it! I have wanted to read it for a good 10 years. Lots of my fellow bookworms recommended it to me back when I was an active member of Yahoo! Groups, pre-blogging.

And that's all that's shaking in my reading today. Greyson is off to daycare since my mom was kind enough to shuttle him this morning, I'm hunkered down with a cup of coffee, and I have a few minutes to myself. All I have left before I start the commute to work is to do are makeup and pick out an outfit for the day, so I have a few minutes to Tweet or read. I should read, but I'm leaning toward the Tweeting.

I hope you all have a great Monday full of books!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila from BookJourney.

The Sunday Salon - The Shrunken TBR

2012-01-22T09:56:00.000-06:00

Mornin' bloggers! It's been a very bookish weekend. I dropped Greyson off yesterday for a visit with the fam, and quickly did some shopping. With some new jeans and a rad military-style jacket under my belt, I headed home to settle down with Madame Bovary. Just as many of you have pointed out, Madame Bovary is not a nice person. But I also know this novel is considered a hallmark of literary realism, and bitchy is the m.o. of the movement. I read Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie in grad school and really liked that one, and it was a whole lot of bummer. I'm ok with bummer sometimes!

I've been looking at my TBR a lot this weekend. Wanna see? Click to embiggen...

Having so few books in my possession is a great help (the rest are in storage). I don't spend tons of time waffling about what to read next when I have a small group of great choices in front of me. Also, note the jack-o-lantern candle holder. A Greyson original. So, in short, I'll be choosing from this pile next. Let me know what you'd like to endorse. :D

The rest of my day will be uneventful. Kiddo will be coming home, I'm hunkering down with more Madame Bovary until then, and doing a little blog surfing to see what the rest of you are up to on this lazy Sunday.

Linkapalooza, Vol. 3

2012-01-20T06:00:00.002-06:00

Each week, for Linkapalooza, I will post a list of links to discussion threads and reviews from my week's bloggy reading. These are reviews that pique my interest, fun or interesting discussions swirling in the blogosphere and other stuff that tickles my fancy. The most important thing? All bloggers, all the time. No big media outlets here, people. Grassroots reading, baby!

Discussion/Opinion

A Backwards Story recommends a Top Ten Books for people who don't read "Cinderella!" Very unique list, and since I love fairy tale takeoffs, this was right up my alley.
The library saved Sassymonkey $1,390.81 in 2011! Holy crap!
Trish tackles homemade baby food for Weekend Cooking!I wish this had been me.
Melody highlights Unbridled Books.
Wendy discusses Blogger Impact with grace.
Jackie from Farm Lane Books wonders why "Some of the Best Books Aren't Very Good?"

Reviews

Heidenkind finally convinces me to read Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick.
Becky reviews bedtime board books and this could not be more timely for my household.
Chris writes another of my favorite reviews...The Dovekeepers.
Jill entices me to Take the Cannoli...
Brooke writes a passionate review of Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns.

Recommendations of your own??? Leave them in the comments section!

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

2012-01-19T06:00:00.000-06:00

*Trumpets sound, angels sing."

I loved it. Loved, loved, loved. And not like "love that goes away because it's really just a passing infatuation." OHHHH NO, this is real love. Real bookish, all-time favorite, gooey love.

Now let me try my best to explain because I want there to be some logic behind this lovefest and not just a gushy mess.

I only sort of knew what to expect when I picked up Gregory Maguire's Wicked. Having read Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, and having NOT fallen in love with that one, I thought I might pick this book up, read through a bit, and then set it aside. I am thrilled to be wrong.

Elphaba, the eventual Wicked Witch of the West, is born to a minister father and a tart of a mother. She's green, she has pointy teeth and odd eyes, and her mother doesn't really bond with her. She spends her childhood with her missionary family in an unsavory part of Oz called Quadling country and is nearly uncontrollable until her younger siblings come along. As she grows, it's evident that she's not as odd as her parents originally feared, and she's a smart little whipper snapper. She attends Shiz University with Galinda (later Glinda) and a cast of other pivotal characters, and her life unfurls into an adventure as she eventually becomes involved in political workings and endures heartache and failure throughout her life until the unavoidable ending we know awaits her.

I did not expect an epic, and that's what this book feels like. From Elphaba's birth to death, we have a peek into her best and worst moments, and rarely have I met such a sympathetic character. Is she all sunshine and light? OH no. She's smart, intuitive, moral, and conflicted. She is sensual but also practical to a fault. She might be me. If I were green. Maybe.

Aside from loving Elphaba herself, I really enjoyed Maguire's narrative on several levels. First off, there is an obvious fantasy element here -- this is Oz, after all -- but there's also a distinctly historical feeling to this book. At times I felt like I was living in Victorian England, at times Nazi Germany, and even Nixon-era America. The various regions of Oz were colorful and unique, and I enjoyed getting to know them through Elphaba's travels and their representative characters.

This book also critiques and satirizes some big, honkin' issues. Maguire explores the nature of evil, implications of religion, human rights, revolution. I was genuinely surprised and delighted by how political in nature this book became at times. I was most compelled when Elphaba was embroiled in some plot or other and impassioned by the dwindling rights and oppression of Animals (animals with a human capacity for intelligence, thought, and communication). It was easy to see how she started strong and almost naively passionate about issues in her college years, but withered and became embittered with time. Though, I have to say, she was never as bitter and never wicked as one might associate with the book or film version.

I suppose I also had my doubts coming into this book because I have no particular fondness for The Wizard of Oz. I disliked Baum's novel, though I appreciate it and have used it in my college classroom. I am fond of the movie, but not fanatical by any stretch. I enjoyed Wicked in a similar way to Bill Willingham's Fables series. The characters are recognizable because they are figureheads in our pop culture. They are archetypes. Almost everyone knows them, but Maguire tells the backstory. The whole story. It's a very smart takeoff from what we think we know about these characters. He crushes the stereotypes while still leaving some nugget of the character in tact for the sake of familiarity. He grows the story; he does not just retell it.

Wicked is a world of it's own with rich characters, settings, and a twisted plot. It's humorous and horrific by turns. It's political and silly and passionate. It is the best of what I look for in a book -- an intricate plot and well-fleshed characters and a huge emotional investment. For these reasons and more, it's going on my all-time favorites list. Having read some reviews, it seems that this novel is quite polarizing, but that's another sign that a novel is worth risking. It can be a payoff or end up in pissed off, but it's most definitely worth a go.

Rating:

Snuggle (with big, sloppy kisses) -- Skewer

Pub. Date: September 1995
Publisher: HarperCollins
Format: e-book
ISBN-13: 9780060987107
Source: Purchased by me.

On Chunksters, Or My Literary Nemeses

2012-01-18T06:00:00.002-06:00

NEMESIS: : a formidable and usually victorious rival or opponent

Yep. That just about says it. This post is an honest rant about chunksters. It's an admission of one of my readerly weaknesses. Are you ready? It's like book therapy, y'all.

First, how does one define a chunkster? Well, lemme tell you, it's a hell of a long book. As it was originally defined for the Chunkster Reading Challenge (which started several years ago and is still running) it's a book of 450 pages or more. Now, to some, 450 pages may be no big deal. A walk in the park. A piece of cake. Some other cliche. To me? Death and readerly destruction, people.

My particular tendency to shy away from Chunksters is multi-faceted:

1. I feel like it takes me FOREVER to finish. With a hectic work/home life, I don't get that much time to read in a given day.

2. I'm something of a commitmentphobe, and if a Chunkster doesn't grab me by the nosehair at the very beginning, I will really never finish.

3. They're unwieldy and really hard to carry around in my cute Guess purse.

Bottom line: they take more commitment than a shorter book, and that just doesn't always work for me. As previously discussed, I'm a book tart.

On the flip side, I have enjoyed a slew of Chunksters in my time. When I had fewer time-sensitive responsibilities I had my nose in a Chunkster without a second thought. The Lord of the Rings? Why not! The Little Stranger? Yes, please!

Now I run screaming from a 500+ page monster because it will bring my reading life to a complete halt. Nothing to blog about, nothing to Tweet about, except one. long. book.

And for me, this may be one of the downsides to blogging. I like to have books to blog about, and if it takes me three weeks to read one book, I'm at a loss. It's not a good excuse, and I really just realized this may be the actual reason I avoid the chunky monkeys, but it's true. Before I blogged about books, it didn't matter if I invested weeks into one novel.

Because I realize this tendency of mine, I also try to face it head on. I read a couple of Chunksters in 2011 and I'm beginning 2012 with a book that borders on chunky (Wicked). I also have a buttload of other books on my shelves that I've wanted to read for a very long time that fall into the Chunkster category: Vanity Fair, A Suitable Boy, A Fine Balance, The Help, A Game of Thrones, and more.

While I recognize my fear of Chunksters, I also have to admit that once I get into one, I typically enjoy them immensely. There's something about the breadth of a Chunkster and the epic feel that is ridonkulously satisfying. The author can indulge in description, and wonderful world-building, and invest time and finesse into characters in a way that many shorter works cannot. And it's with these positive attributes in mind that I VOW to read more Chunksters in 2012.

While I had every intention of joining The Chunkster Challenge in 2012, there's one leetle bitty rule that trips me up: no e-books. I am quite dependent on them for financial and logistical reasons, so I'm doing a personal Chunkster Challenge this year instead of the official -- though I loooove the hostesses and am following along with the challenge and The Chunky Book Club. If you have a similar inclination to tackle the heaping chunkies this year, I urge you to go on over and sign up.

And now that I've virtually spilled my guts, I want to know about YOU. Do you shy away from longggggg books? Why or why not? What is your favorite Chunkster that you'd recommend that I try sooner than later?

Top Ten Tuesday: Books (and Stories) for Non-Short Story Readers!

2012-01-17T09:03:00.000-06:00

OK! Another meme I hadn't intended to participate in today, but I am becoming quite addicted to the fun topics presented for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted at The Broke and the Bookish). I swear I'll write a post about something discussiony tomorrow (probably Chunksters).

So, today's assignment for TTT is to recommend 10 books for readers typically NOT interested in the chosen genre. I read that lots of bloggers don't particularly enjoy short stories. I can understand that -- they're not as developed as novels, but I have found A TON of amazing short stories and short story writers over the years. Many of my favorites came to me through my classes as an undergraduate and later a graduate student in English. Other, more contemporary writers, I've stumbled upon in collections, journals, and sometimes I take the plunge and buy their books based on recommendations (or pretty covers!). These are some of my absolute favorites. I've started with the collections and then transition into individual stories. I've linked all of the short stories to their complete online texts.

No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July. MJ is an artist in many respects (visual, performance, writing), and her stories are the epitome of quirk. I read this book several, several years ago, and I can still recall specific moments from individual stories. The characters are odd, their situations are often weird, but there's a fun humanity to them. I could relate to them on multiple levels. I need to read more of her stuff, but there's not nearly enough for my taste.

Delicate Edible Birds by Lauren Groff. I wrote a really in-depth review of this one for Bibliobuffet a few years ago. I was really impressed with the daring in this book as Groff often takes her characters to places I didn't expect. My fave story in the collection was titled "L. Debard and Aliette" and was super fantastic.

The Secret Lives of People in Love by Simon Van Booy will come as a surprise to absolutely NO ONE who's been hanging around this blog for a minute. Van Booy does imagery like no on else. Some of these stories are ridiculously short, but that doesn't take away from the magic and atmosphere of them.

Little Black Book of Stories by A.S. Byatt is a collection I picked up in 2010 and whipped through. It was my first Byatt undertaking and I could NOT have been more pleased. This collection would really appeal to non-short story readers because of the length of they stories. They're involving.

"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates is classic Oates. The characters are quite normal on the surface, but there's a noticeable level of creep that works its way in very quickly. I love using this story with my Intro to Lit students because they think it's boring in the beginning, but as things begin to morph it becomes a very different story. The ending is somewhat ambiguous, but if you tease out the details as presented in the text, it's SO INTERESTING. Also lots of intertexual references and cultural references to the 60s.

"The Horse Dealer's Daughter" by D.H. Lawrence is a good introduction to Lawrence's work if you're not ready to dive into a novel straight away. It's slow building, sensual (in an unexpected way), and a good snapshot of his work.

"Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor was one of those stories I read in high school that made me fall in love with classics. IT'S SO TWISTED, as most of O'Connor's work tends to be. While I have several favorites from O'Connor's short stories, this one takes the cake. My mouth was left hanging open when I read it for the first time. If you like troubled, conflicted characters and lots of play with religious themes, this one is for you.

"Cat in the Rain" by Ernest Hemingway is a story I haven't revisited in quite a while, but our discussion of it in a grad school Modernism class left quite an impression. There's a reason Hemingway's writing is referred to as an iceburg--LOTS hidden just below the surface.

"August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradury. I've raved about this story FOR YEARS!!! If you haven't read it already, just do it. You won't be sorry! It's only four pages long, just doooo itttttt.

"Bloodchild" by Octavia Butler made some of my students want to throw up! It's a science fiction selection, and it's hard to read in spots. However, it's a stunning example of sci-fi as social critique.

It's MONDAY, and A Classics Challenge!

2012-01-16T09:29:00.000-06:00

It's Monday! What are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at BookJourney.

Good morning, everyone! I hadn't intended to participate in this meme today because I figured I'd still be engrossed in Wicked. And I am still engrossed in Wicked with about 200 pages left to read, but there's also a new participant in the ring!

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert!!!

This is my first choice for this year's A Classics Challenge hosted over at November's Autumn. It's also an opportunity for Heather and I to read some tawdry French literature together. Not that Flaubert is tawdry, but rumor has it, Madame B. is most certainly a tart.

I have absolutely no experience with Flaubert, but I'm excited to get started. I have the e-book download onto my Kobo app on my iPhone (soon to be transferred to my Nook), so I've dipped in and out of this one a touch over the last week or so. Heather gave me the official go-ahead to jump in headlong last night, so I'm going to be reading it during lunch hours and whatnot until I finish Wicked.

I haven't read a scandalous classic since, oh, probably Lady Chatterley's Lover and that was even before I had a blog. I would place it at 10 years ago or so. I couldn't remember exactly when I'd tackled LCL, so I Googled and was reminded of this little post I wrote about D.H. Lawrence's short story, "The Horse Dealer's Daughter." Equally sensuous.

So what does that convoluted little aside have to do with Madame Bovary? Not much, except I'm looking forward to finding out EXACTLY how naughty ole Gustave is going to get. This book came about in 1856, and it's always fun to see exactly what was labeled salacious and WRONG then as opposed to our 2012 sensibilities.

One of the things that excites me most about A Classics Challenge is that it's structured much like a blog hop. Every month Katherine posts a tri-level question participants can answer and link back to. The three levels of the prompt are based on how far into the book one has gotten. Since I'm really just starting Madame Bovary, I'm a "Level One" participant.

Who is the author? What do they look like? When were they born? Where did they live? What does their handwriting look like? What are some of the other novels they've written? What is an interesting and random fact about their life?

Flaubert seems like an interesting, somewhat dramatic character himself. He began writing as early as eight years old. He studied law but abandoned it as he didn't have much interest in it. He never married, but he did have a long affair with the poet, Louise Colet. After the affair ended, he was no longer interested in relationships and sought the platonic companionship of fellow writers such as Victor Hugo. He even lived with his mother for the rest of his life. He's also one of the few people I've ever heard of who found Paris distasteful and preferred other regions of France. Flaubert was very open about his sexual escapades; he was no stranger to prostitutes and engaged in sex with other men from time to time.

Flaubert's style was know as "Perfectionist" as he strove to choose just the right words for his novels and was known to slave over one page for up to a week. He figuratively "bled" over his writing--it was painstaking work.

After having read about Flaubert, I'm even more excited to delve further into the story of Madame Bovary. It promises to be one interesting undertaking!

The Sunday Salon - Something WICKED!

2012-01-15T07:45:00.000-06:00

It's early in the day on Sunday, and I have quite a few online class items to take care of. Icebreaker posts to read, new work to post, but I had to take a minute to Salon with you all. I took the day off from blogging yesterday. I ran some errands in the morning -- clothes to purchase for Rocketgirl, a haircut for Greyson -- and I spent the afternoon finally really digging into Wicked. I was embarrassed that I was only on page 80 or so after a week of reading, and I figured I just needed to sit down and dig into the world Maguire is creating. And it worked like a charm. I read over 100 pages, and I'm hopelessly devoted.

I am rapidly falling in love. How many times have I said this about a book I put off reading for a scandalously long time? Once "everyone else" in the world has read it, I pick it up and fall in ooey gooey love and gush to the choir.

I won't go into full-on review mode because I do want to review this book in full when I'm done, but I'm really enjoying getting to know the cast of characters and I'm enjoying the political bent of this novel. Oz is not a happy place to be: coups, revolutions, terrorism, issues of civil rights. While I had an iffy impression of Maguire after reading The Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister several years ago, I am pleased to be having this good a time with Wicked. While I haven't been very good at following series lately, I'm excited that there's more to come in this series. I received the final book, Out of Oz, from the publisher a while back, so that's good incentive to buy Son of a Witch and Lion Among Men.

I'll be picking Greyson up early in the afternoon, so I need to finish my online work, get away from the computer, and get back to my book. What's in store this week at olde Estella's Revenge? I'm stewing on a couple of posts, but foremost is a discussion of Chunkster novels and what they mean to me. In other words, why they scare the heck out of me. I really enjoyed the discussion on the "reading tart" post, so maybe delving into more of my self-proclaimed flaws will spur on more discussion! :D

I hope you all have a fantastic, bookish day!

SHUT the Front Door! Tournament of Books MADNESS!

2012-01-13T10:16:00.000-06:00

Did you all hear me SCREAM this morning when I realized the 2012 Tournament of Books shortlist was posted?! I haven't checked the site in a couple of days and those sneaky little Morning News critters got past me! In the last year, this event has become the SUPER BOWL of my reading. Last year I personally challenged myself to read all of the TOB books. While I did not succeed in reading them all, it was FABULOUS guidance, and I'm looking forward to reading even more from this year's list.

If you're not familiar with The Morning News Tournament of Books, you'll need to start by reading this hilarious explanation. Lots of irreverence and fun here, people. Including a reader judge this year who's serving a year in jail for a non-violent offense. YEAH!!!! Zombie Round voting is also going on, so once you read the explanation, vote for your fave Zombie and get in on the democratic reading action.

So if you're wondering exactly how seriously I take this whole thing, I'll need to show you pics to prove it.

These are both pics of my office door taken with my crappy iPhone 3GS (thus, the horrible quality). As soon as I read the TOB post this morning, I started scurrying around the office printing the brackets. I even made up my own Zombie Round promotional flier for the door. If you're wondering if it's kosher to use office equipment for this purpose, I call this PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. I'm a composition and lit teacher for heaven's sake!

I should also mention that I ran screaming through the office laughing maniacally and exclaiming my joy. I promptly handed out brackets to anyone within earshot. Since my two fellow English instructors aren't here yet today, I took the liberty of posting the brackets in their cubicles.

So ARE YOU READY to read?!!! You should read with me! You really should! The official tournament starts on March 7th, and I'll be sucking down as many of the following novels as possible between now and then.

Nathacha Appanah, The Last Brother
Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending (already read)
Teju Cole, Open City
Helen DeWitt, Lightning Rods
Patrick deWitt, The Sisters Brothers (already read)
Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot
Chad Harbach, The Art of Fielding
Alan Hollinghurst, Stranger’s Child
Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones
Haruki Murakami, 1Q84
Téa Obreht, The Tiger’s Wife
Michael Ondaatje, The Cat’s Table
Ann Patchett, State of Wonder
Donald Ray Pollock, Devil All the Time
Karen Russell, Swamplandia
Kate Zambreno, Green Girl

Estella's Revenge Linkapalooza, Vol. 2

2012-01-13T06:00:00.000-06:00

Welcome back! Linkapalooza, Vol. 2 is upon us! If you missed it last week, I will be posting a list of links to discussion posts and reviews from my week's bloggy reading. These are reviews that pique my interest, fun or interesting discussions swirling in the blogosphere and other stuff that gains my fancy. The most important thing? All bloggers, all the time. No big media outlets here, people. Grassroots reading, baby!

Discussion/Opinion/STUFF Posts

Sheila from Book Journey weighs in on how blogging trends have changed.
Chris from Chrisbookarama put her two cents in on the changing trends in book blogging. I might add my thoughts next week since this is a VERY interesting discussion. With my 7-year blogiversary coming up, it seems timely!
Katie from Mama the Reader is in PARIS and I am super jealous. If you've not checked out Katie's blog, photography, and commentary on motherhood, you're SO missing out.
The Indie Lit Awards shortlists were announced this week, and I'm excited that I already have a couple of the books on my stacks. Most notably, Songs for the New Depression by Kergan Edwards-Stout.

Reviews

Brenna from Literary Musings reviewed Forgotten Bookmarks: A Bookseller's Collection of Odd Things Lost Between the Pages by Michael Popek. How the heck did I not know about this book? And this BLOG?!!
Amanda from Fig and Thistle wrote a SUPER COOL review of The Night Circus formatted like a recipe!
And I'm all up in Chris's space this week because I loved her review of Ragnarok by A.S. Byatt.

What caught your eye this week?

Personally: Ugg!

2012-01-12T14:37:00.000-06:00

Spoken quietly to myself so no one else can hear...

"I will not make an A$$ of myself at work. I will not yell at this person for being immeasurably stupid. I will get through this day by biting my tongue repeatedly. And I will go home and read."

An educator's/reader's mantra for frustration. Steal it if ya need it! I'm fine, and I'll be back tomorrow with something other than a rant. Linkapalooza, y'all!

Browsing Gets Me In Trouble

2012-01-11T11:01:00.000-06:00

Like so many other bookworms, browsing a bookstore can be a dangerous experience. Most certainly dangerous to the pocket book. While I haven't bought these latest finds YET, I suspect I'll get my hands on them one way or another. When I was out this weekend, these are the latest beauties that caught my eye and flew onto my wishlist.

Smut: Stories by Alan Bennett, author of The Uncommon Reader - I haven't read The Uncommon Reader just yet, but I'm no stranger to the buzz! It looks great, as does Smut.

Blurb: One of England's finest and most loved writers explores the uncomfortable and tragicomic gap between peoples public appearance and their private desires in two tender and surprising stories. In The Greening of Mrs. Donaldson, a recently bereaved widow finds interesting ways to supplement her income by performing as a patient for medical students, and renting out her spare room. Quiet, middle-class, and middle-aged, Mrs. Donaldson will soon discover that she rather enjoys role-play at the hospital, and the irregular and startling entertainment provided by her tenants. In The Shielding of Mrs. Forbes, a disappointed middle-aged mother dotes on her only son, Graham, who believes he must shield her from the truth. As Grahams double life becomes increasingly complicated, we realize how little he understands, not only of his own desires but also those of his mother.

I have seen Rose: My Life in Service to Lady Astor by Rosina Harrison around the blogosphere here and there. While I'm not terribly familiar with Lady Astor, I wouldn't mind doing my homework and diving headlong into this one.

Blurb: In 1928, Rosina Harrison arrived at the illustrious household of the Astor family to take up her new position as personal maid to the infamously temperamental Lady Nancy Astor, who sat in Parliament, entertained royalty, and traveled the world. "She's not a lady as you would understand a lady" was the butler's ominous warning. But what no one expected was that the iron-willed Lady Astor was about to meet her match in the no-nonsense, whip-smart girl from the country.

Last, but certainly not least, is A Mountain of Crumbs: A Memoir by Elena Gorokhova. It looks like I might be a'craving non-fiction. It has been a while since I've read any, and I'm looking forward to this one. I would love to know more about experiences in Russia, and this memoir looks enthralling. Plus, I want to pet the cover. So pretty!

Blurb: Elena Gorokhovas A Mountain of Crumbs is the moving story of a Soviet girl who discovers the truths adults are hiding from her and the lies her homeland lives by. Elenas country is no longer the majestic Russia of literature or the tsars, but a nation struggling to retain its power and its pride. Born with a desire to explore the world beyond her borders, Elena finds her passion in the complexity of the English language—but in the Soviet Union of the 1960s such a passion verges on the subversive. Elena is controlled by the state the same way she is controlled by her mother, a mirror image of her motherland: overbearing, protective, difficult to leave. In the battle between a strong-willed daughter and her authoritarian mother, the daughter, in the end, must break free and leave in order to survive.

What have you added to your wishlist lately?

On Revisiting Writers (Sort of a Top Ten Tuesday Discussion)

2012-01-10T10:03:00.000-06:00

I like Tuesdays and I like Top Ten Tuesday, so I headed over to The Broke and the Bookish to check out today's list: Top Ten Authors I Wish Would Write Another Book.

And I quickly ran away.

Why? Because I'm something of a reading tart.

By the way, extra brownie points with me if you can tell me why Renee Zellweger is wearing a bunny outfit.

I've said it before, but I really get around when it comes to my reading. And I rarely revisit an author's work once I've tried one novel. It's sad really, this compulsive "dating" of authors instead of forming tried and true relationships. Of course, there are the exceptions. I've had a years-long relationship with Paul Auster and Siri Hustvedt. Who also happen to be married to each other, so if they knew I existed maybe we'd be a plural relationship by now.

But they're really the only two I can think of straight off the top of my head. Occasionally I'll read a second book by an author I enjoy, but even those are hard to pinpoint. For the most part I am a flutterer. I pick up books I'm in the mood for, I love 'em or leave 'em (snuggle or skewer), and I'm off to the next literary romp.

Do I like this habit? Not really. I can speak from my experience with Auster and Hustvedt that I enjoy following an author's literary progression from early novels to those later works. I've read damn near all of Hustvedt--even the essay collections I never see discussed on blogs or elsewhere. With Auster, I started with his memoirs and made my way into (some of) his fiction. I enjoyed The New York Trilogy so much, it took me awhile to read other selections, and even now they're limited.

If I'm psychoanalyzing my own reading habits (dangerous!), I would guess that one of the reasons I do this is because I am afraid of that second date disappointment. If the first experience with an author's work is great, I am not always sure a second experience will measure up. See F. Scott Fitzgerald who remains a one-hit wonder with me.

So I want to know from you all:
Do you read through multiple works by same author often? If not, why? And if you are monogamous who do you recommend "following" through the progression of their writing?

The Housekeeper and the Professor

2012-01-09T06:00:00.000-06:00

The first order of business in this review is to thank and send a virtual hug to Nancy from Bookfoolery and Babble for sending her copy of The Housekeeper and the Professor! I've had my eye on this book for what seems like forever, and it would've been another age of waiting if Nancy hadn't been so kind.

Yoko Ogawa's novel is a quiet work, not full of twisty plot developments or high-powered characters. It's the story of an aging mathematician whose memory stopped in 1975 and from then on only exists in 80 minute chunks before being promptly forgotten. The narrator of the novel is hired on as his housekeeper with quite a few stipulations and rules in place. While she's originally intimidated by the surroundings -- a filthy cottage, the recluse Professor -- somehow she begins to build a friendship with him. When her son, nicknamed Root by the Professor, comes into the picture, the three really become a team. While the Professor gets to know them anew several times a day, he uses notes pinned to his suit to keep his bearings and reacquaint himself with the pair over and over again. It's always a love of numbers, baseball, and enduring kindness that tethers them together.

Math is not high on the list of things that entertain me. I was the person in college who, upon changing degrees from a BFA in Graphic Design to a BA in English, threw a fit at having to take college algebra. However, I've now had the pleasure of reading two stunning works of literature that integrate math! The first I read and loved was Proof, by David Auburn. I thought it was a feeling never to be recreated, but as it turns out, Ogawa's work is just as charming, just as challenging, and just as illuminating.

A couple of literary devices stand out straight off. None of the characters, aside from Root, are named. The housekeeper is a nondescript, uneducated, single mom just trying to do her best for her son. She gets by one day at a time. The Professor is special...a genius, but he's taking life one 80 minute stretch at a time. Every day that the housekeeper arrives at the Professor's cottage, he asks for her birthday. He finds relationships between seemingly random numbers. The connections provide calm in his otherwise turbulent and confusing daily life. The housekeeper soon finds herself engrossed in a burgeoning understanding of mathematics as the Professor is never opposed to explaining his concepts in thoughtful and beautiful ways. The housekeeper finds new order and wonder in her daily life as she learns from the Professor.

As I mopped the office floor, my mind churning with worries about Root, I realized how much I needed this eternal truth that the Professor had described. I needed the sense that this invisible world was somehow propping up the visible one, that this one, true line extended infinitely, without width or area, confidently piercing through the shadows. Somehow, this line would help me find peace. (116)

The nameless characters certainly lend an Everyman quality to this novel, and the mathematics adds a kind of commonality among the characters. The Professor often discusses his mathematical work as peeking into "God's notebook." While the Professor's concepts are often advanced, the math adds a universal truth that reflects the universality of friendship and love.

Going in, I was slightly afraid the memory loss element would seem hokey, but it really didn't at any time. After the first few chapters Ogawa largely omits any discussion of the Professor's memory loss in a given day and the reader gets snippets of their lives: the housekeeper cooking dinner for the Professor as he lays in his recliner, Root doing his homework with the Professor's help, the three listening to a baseball game, gathered around an outdated radio. These glimpses into daily life and into specific moments help create the feeling of an ongoing friendship, even though in reality it is constantly interrupted. The friendly tie among the characters is stronger than memory loss and the ongoing blips.

As I mentioned in the beginning, this is a quiet novel. It moves gracefully through the story of these three friends and it was easy to set it aside and come back to it. But it was also one of those finely written novels that I wanted to savor. I've done a lot of marking passages in this book, and it's one that would certainly be worth a re-read.

Rating:

Snuggle -- Skewer

Pub. Date: February 2009
Publisher: Picador
Format: Trade Paperback
ISBN-13: 978-0312427801
Source: Gift

The Sunday Salon - First Book Finished! And Stuff.

2012-01-08T10:19:00.000-06:00

Morning, y'all! I don't have much time to spend online this morning, but I wanted to pop in and share my reading weekend thus far.

Yesterday was a busy day from start to finish. I dropped Greyson off to spend some time with the fam, ran some errands, picked up a dresser for Greyson that I'd put on layaway a while back, reclaimed two of my dresser drawers, had a late lunch, and cleaned, cleaned, CLEANED. Oh, and I finished off the day with a margarita in a bag. Ahem! I also found a few minutes to finish up my first book of 2012, and it was a great way to start the year. You can expect a fond review of Yoko Ogawa's The Housekeeper and the Professor early this week.

In other bookish news, I had an epiphany this week. I've had an Estella's Revenge (Lite) Tumblr site for a while, but I've been unsure exactly how to use it and haven't publicized it very much. To this point I've used it to share quotes from my current reading but I've been very inconsistent in posting, though it is a great way to keep up with those passages I want to remember.

The epiphany this week was a new way to utilize Tumblr that still integrates my reading. As I'm reading, I'll be posting passages, pictures, articles, movies, music, and other "artifacts" that relate to my reading. I suppose I'm using it as sort of a "commonplace book" to accompany the books I ingest. It's a fun idea for me -- a visual representation of my reading in any given year-- and I hope you'll follow along if you also use Tumblr. I need some other Tumblr feeds to follow myself and haven't spend as much time "friending" over there as I'd like to.

This week I posted links and images from some other mathematically-related literature I love: the play, Proof by David Auburn, and the film adaptation. I also shared some images of Japanese items I enjoy (sushi, cherry blossoms), and some written passages (of course!). I'll be digging even further into this plan with my next read...

That's right! I've never read Wicked even though I've had it on my stacks forever. Where have I heard that before??! I didn't have the physical book in my possession this week, so I found an inexpensive copy and downloaded it to my Nook, and I'm off and running. So far it's a lot of fun, and I have some creative Tumblr ideas for this one.

I'll be drafting some posts for this week later on today. With the start of our academic term in full swing, I have lots to do! Faculty to chase, paperwork to square away, files to update, and FOUR CLASSES to teach on-ground (in addition to the two online). Yeah, it's one of THOSE terms! But it's OK. I love what I do. I'll be around commenting when my brain goes up in smoke, and I hope you're all having a great weekend with a calm and peaceful week ahead.

Have a drink for me.

Estella's Revenge Linkapalooza, Vol. 1

2012-01-06T10:41:00.000-06:00

With the beginning of the academic term in full swing, and with a slightly underactive brain this morning, I'm really surprised I had such a GOOD IDEA! Y'all might remember that Heather, Melissa, and I used to edit a monthly (or quarterly) e-zine of bloggy items called Estella's Revenge E-Zine: posts, features, reviews. Some of the items were original content, and some were re-printed from first runs on other blogs. I liked to think of it as a blog "collective."

The whole point was to shine a light on bloggers. What I've brought you today is my first Estella's Revenge "Linkapalooza" post paying homage to the e-zine days. Lots of bloggers share linky roundups, but I chose to only share links from my fellow bloggers, not media outlets or other collective publications. This is meant to spread the word about great posts and great reviews, and it's also somewhat selfish because it's a good way for me to keep up with posts I'd like to revisit.

On Fridays I'll be posting Linkapaloozas, many of them more far-reaching than this one. Already this week I've read multiple posts and some specific reviews that I now CANNOT FIND in my Google reader, and I hope this little problem is a thing of the past with this Friday feature.Today's links are courtesy of a quick romp through my Google Reader. I promise I'll research further and wider from now on...

And maybe I'll start one of these Paper.li things. Today, I just don't have the gumption.

Discussion/Opinon Posts

In today's Bare Necessities feature over at The Book Lady's Blog, Kayt Sukel, author of Dirty Minds: How Our Brains Influence Love, Sex and Relationships shares "how some of her favorite novels mesh with the latest and greatest findings concerning the neurobiology of love and sex."
Allie from A Literary Odyssey shares her experiences journaling and her goals to journal in 2012.
A lovely image shared by Trisha from Eclectic Eccentric -- "House from Book".
The next Go the F*CK to Sleep?, Les from Prairie Horizons introduces me to Goodnight, iPad
Lydia from The Literary Lollipop shares her bookish pet peeve: endorsements! I think many of us can relate to this!
Meg is the newest iPhone convert among us. Welcome to the dark side!

Reviews

Cinder by Melissa Meyer from Heather at Capricious Reader. I'm yearning to buy this book. Yearning, I say.
Heather from Raging Bibliomania affirms my hunch that I should buy a copy of The Language of Flowers.
Sam from Tiny Library has written a good, honest review of The Girl with Three Legs by Soraya Mire.

Go, visit, read...

End of Year Book Survey (The Teensy Version)

2012-01-05T06:00:00.000-06:00

Jamie from The Perpetual Page Turner created a magnificent end-of-year book survey that has taken ze book bloggers by STORM! I see it popping up everywhere, and it really is so much fun, I had to participate.

However, mine is sort of a mini version of Jamie's original. I hope she doesn't mind!!! As I was reading through some of the questions, I figured I'd covered some of them here and thoroughly bored you with my answers to others already (YES, read THE NIGHT CIRCUS!). What I have here are 16 of the questions I wanted to answer most or figured I could write the most about. They cover books read in 2011, plans for blogging, and other cool bookish/bloggish topics.

Thanks, Jamie!

1. Most Disappointing Book/Book You Wish You Loved More Than You Did?
I spent a good deal of time detailing the books I loved in 2011, but I didn't do a companion list of books that stunk it up. My answer might surprise you...

Stinkiest Book O'the Year goes to....A Visit from the Goon Squad! I wrote a more or less civil post about this book when I originally read it. About how I could appreciate it (if I had to), but with time I've figured out that I really disliked it. Except the PowerPoint chapter. So there!

2. Best series you discovered in 2011?
Ummm....no series books at all. Weird. Just those partial re-reads of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Breaking Dawn.

3. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2011?

It happened at the end of the year, but this one wins. It's like...hehe....a vagina with gumballs coming out (in my best Beavis and Butthead voice). Not very mature, I realize, and God only knows how many weird Google searches that'll get me, but I'll take the chance. In all seriousness, I think this is the prettiest, happiest, most elegantly suggestive cover for a sex book.

4. Most memorable character in 2011?
THIS is a hard question. I've met a number of characters this year that I really loved. BUT, my final answer would be Joseph from Aimee Bender's The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake because he broke my heart. OR Celia Bowen from The Night Circus. While many have spoken ill of the character development in The Night Circus, Celia held me spellbound. She was a bit of a cold fish, but totally mysterious and lovely. I loved the sense of atmosphere surrounding her, and her tragic upbringing got me.

5. Book you can't believe you waited UNTIL 2011 to finally read?
Without skipping a beat...Atonement. How on EARTH did I not read this book until now?!

6. Book That You Read In 2011 That Would Be Most Likely To Reread In 2012?
And without skipping another beat...The Night Circus. I don't want to be one of those gushing bloggers (but I am), and I just had a feeling about this book that reminded me of when I was reading as a kid. I felt wonder while I was reading this book. It only happens occasionally, and I want to feel it again and again.

7. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!
OMG, Everything Beautiful Began After. That THING! That EVENT!!!! That damned MONKEY WRENCH! Simon Van Booy certainly has writerly balls.

8. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2011?
This is another tough question since I'm always adding new blogs to my Google Reader and I LOVE YOU ALL. Right off the top of my head, I have to give a heads up and a shout out to Heather at Raging Bibliomania. She is just the sweetest most lovely person and her reviews ROCK! We have similar tastes, too, so her blog is enablerific.

9. Favorite review that you wrote in 2011?
Hands down, Sherry and Narcotics by Nina-Marie Gardner. I originally avoided the book because it has a heinous cover, but I fully admitted this in the review, apologized, and went on to explain that I wanted to kick one of the main characters in the crotch. LOVED the book!

10. Best discussion you had on your blog?
My "Motherhood Changes Reading" post seemed to touch a nerve with quite a few of my fellow bloggers and resulted in a good deal of comment and Twitter conversation. It was eventually syndicated over at BlogHer as well. I'm just glad that I could enter into such personally meaningful conversation with my fellow blogger lovelies. Thanks to all who expressed their thoughts on that post. :D

11. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?
Consistently, my favorite blogger event is Carl's yearly RIP Challenge. I get so into that challenge and so many of my fellow bloggers get into that challenge. It creates a lot of wonderful conversation, I find great reviews, and this year's readalongs were fantastic!

12. Best moment of book blogging in 2011?
Round about Thanksgiving I was feeling stifled. I wasn't reading much, I didn't have much to say, and there was a moment there that I questioned my book blogging, y'all! I expressed my concerns and you all answered overwhelmingly that I should write about any topics I want to! I wrote some "stuff week" posts that really cleared out my angst and helped me get back to productively blogging. It's nice to know that you all care about the person behind the blog so much and actually enjoy personal posts and a variety of other topics. I will repeat "Stuff Week" as needed. :)

13. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?
Ooh! Oooh!!! If you're ever in the Dallas area, you need to make a trip out to the Allen/Fairview area and visit A Real Bookstore!!! I have always complained about a lack of indies in my general area, so I was THRILLED to find this big, beautiful, bountiful indie right down the road. They have a smashing cafe, impeccable customer service, and lots of fun events. I *heart* them.

14. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
I personally challenged myself to read more literary fiction this year, and that was the best thing I ever did! I felt more "full" and satisfied by my reading this year than I have in a long time. I should also mention, my initial post on this matter, "Why Literary Fiction and What the Heckfire Is It" was another great conversation had on the blog this year. Many of you weighed in on the subject and tossed ideas around with me. Even though we didn't all agree, it was a smashing good time of a convo. And no one's eyes got scratched out. How's THAT for avoiding drama?!

15. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2012?
The Twelve by Justin Cronin. I am desperately afraid of Chunksters because I get antsy and stop reading them. But not The Passage, and I'm willing to bet not The Twelve! I inhaled The Passage on my maternity leave in 2010, and if it was enough to make me do that, I am totally psyched to read the next book.

16. ~~One~~ Two Things You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2012?
Blog passionately and read deliberately.

And Thus the Energy Was Sucked Out - Tell Me Yo' Classics!

2012-01-04T06:00:00.000-06:00

Penguin spines...because they're purty...

Oy! Back to work and my brain is already mush. Yesterday I was so busy at work all day I couldn't manage to actually post anything. Today my energy and inspiration are flagging again, but such is to be expected at the beginning of a new term (in which I am teaching a FRIDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING CLASS).

But I digress...

My actual point in posting this posty post is to get some ideas for classics I simply cannot miss in 2012. I have a short "wishlist" of titles I'd like to tackle on my Nook, but alas, I am a glutton for ideas. Let's start this way...below is a list of some of my tippy top most favoritest classics. Now you tell me what else I should add to my want list for the year...

Faves:

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens for its wonky lady characters in all their quirkiness
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens because it was full of twists, turns, and one particular sacrifice that broke my heart
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald for being gorgeous and for showing me the Roaring 20s
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck for taking me on an immersive (immersing? immersative? immersionary?...you know what I mean) ride through time and Chinese culture
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury for being so darned clever, full of bookishness (in its own way) and for showing me that classics can be twisted
Antigone by Sophocles for showing me that the REALLY old classics can still rock. And the drama was delicious.
Night by Elie Wiesel because it's the most affecting Holocaust story I've ever read.
The Professor's House by Willa Cather because it's beautiful and meaningful and deceptively simple.

While this little list does not encompass all of my favorites, these are the ones that jump immediately to mind. I'm sure I'll begin kicking myself for leaving out something yummy any time now.

Ok, now, start recommending. GO!

Bye-Bye Vacation! Hello 2012 Wannareads!

2012-01-02T07:36:00.000-06:00

I'm up early this morning enjoying the last day of my 11-day holiday vacation, and what a vacation it's been! I always love the new year because I feel so wonderfully energized and challenged. Ready to kick the new year's butt, yo! I'm certain there are a lot of changes ahead in 2012, but I just have to prepare myself as best I can.

While I'm not making many plans for 2012 reading, there are far too many books that have been on my shelves for YEARS. It's just scandalous that I haven't gotten off my tookus and read these books, so they're super-priority to get off the shelves (good or bad) this year. Specifically, I've come up with a BIG THREE books to obliterate from my shelves in 2012...

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro came to my attention back in my Yahoo! Groups days. Many respected book friends and fellow bloggers impressed me with their reviews, and it's been sitting on my shelves gathering dust ever since!!!

Blurb: Set in a (barely?) alternate England in the late 1990s, Never Let Me Go is the sum of Kathy's memories. Kathy is one of many "donors" who have been brought into being for purposes that, while well-intended, can come to no good. Ishiguro's novel touches on the issues surrounding human cloning and identity and "what if." Then again, human clones are nothing new. Know any identical twins? They may be clones of one another, but that doesn't preclude them from having discrete selves. Never Let Me Go doesn't put science on trial; rather, it takes humans to task on the willful, too-prevalent misuse and misunderstanding of science to further parochial, sad ends.

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell is another recommendation from the Yahoo! Groups days. Les was the first blogger who really put this book on my radar, and it's ridiculous that I've yet to read it. I have a physical copy SOMEWHERE, but it's buried in boxes, so I have a feeling I'll download a copy this year.

Blurb: The Sparrow, an astonishing literary debut, takes you on a journey to a distant planet and to the center of the human soul. It is the story of a charismatic Jesuit priest and linguist, Emilio Sandoz, who leads a twenty-first-century scientific mission to a newly discovered extraterrestrial culture. Sandoz and his companions are prepared to endure isolation, hardship and death, but nothing can prepare them for the civilization they encounter, or for the tragic misunderstanding that brings the mission to a catastrophic end. Once considered a living saint, Sandoz returns alone to Earth physically and spiritually maimed, the mission's sole survivor — only to be accused of heinous crimes and blamed for the mission's failure.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith is one of those books that surfaced on my radar slowly but surely over time as pretty much every group discussion participant and blogger I know loved it. And somehow I never jumped onboard aside from actually buying a copy. Oy!

Blurb: I Capture the Castle tells the story of seventeen-year-old Cassandra and her family, who live in not-so-genteel poverty in a ramshackle old English castle. Here she strives, over six turbulent months, to hone her writing skills. She fills three notebooks with sharply funny yet poignant entries. Her journals candidly chronicle the great changes that take place within the castle's walls, and her own first descent into love. By the time she pens her final entry, she has "captured the castle" — and the heart of the reader — in one of literature's most enchanting entertainments.

Do you have any long-time residents on your shelves that you're trying to evict in 2012? Share! I might have them on my shelves, too. In truth, I probably do!

The Sunday Salon - Happy New Year!!!

2012-01-01T12:04:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!!! I would've posted sooner, but I came down with strep throat on Friday!!! I spent the last two days in bed, wishing for a swift demise. Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come in 2012. The good news is, with the help of some serious antibiotics, I feel much better now.

Tis the season to be posting one's "resolutions" but everyone sucks at resolutions. Let's just be real shall we? So I'm not posting resolutions. I'm posting 2012 goals.

1. Don't impose too many rules on reading. That's right. It's the anti-goal. My main purpose in reading in 2012 should be to read deliberately. I shall not force myself to finish anything I hate. I will not accept review books or tour books I'm only lukewarm about. While I only read 30 books in 2011, it was an EXCELLENT reading year!

2. Make healthier choices--food choices, financial choices, motherhood choices. Just be a more balanced person in general.

3. Start a serious weight loss journey. I have a lot to lose, but I'm being realistic, accepting that it'll be a slow process, but I want to be healthier for my son and for myself. I'm taking a lot of inspiration from Amanda of Ramblings. It's been rewarding to witness her journey. If she can do it, I can do it, too!

4. Start seriously looking for a new job. As much as I love the one I have now, I have finally wrapped my head around the fact that it will go away this year. I have to find the next gig.

I've set some pretty straightforward goals for myself in 2012, and they're all extensions of things I've put in motion in 2011. Piece of cake, right?! We'll see. :)

As for reading, I'm about halfway through The Housekeeper and the Professor, and it'll most certainly be my first completed book of 2012. Watch for a review this week!!!

I hope you're all having a relaxing start to the new year. I see a good meal and time with Greyson in my plan today. Now that I'm back among the living, I can enjoy the first day of 2012.

What's your plan for the day? What are you reading to begin the year?

Books Burning Holes in My Shelves

2011-12-31T06:00:00.000-06:00

Thanks to the Christmas holidays, some generous bloggy friends, and some generous publishers, I have a stack of books burning a hole in my shelves!!! Many of my books have been boxed up and stored away for the last six months or so, and that part of my reading life has actually been really helpful. I can't spend too much time perusing endless choices when I only have 20 or so physical books to choose from and the stock of stuff on my e-reader. It streamlines the waffling, in other words.

Here are the books at the tippy top of my stacks really calling my name right now...

I've started The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, and I've already bumped off 40 pages or so before a bitchin' headache bloomed. This was a gift from the lovely Nancy at Bookfoolery and Babble. She was kind enough to send along her copy when I mentioned wanting to read it recently. This one feels cozy and pleasant so far, and I can't wait to see where Ogawa takes the story. I'm also really impressed with the beautiful translation by Stephen Snyder.

Blurb: He is a brilliant math professor, with a peculiar problem — since a traumatic head injury, he has lived with only eighty minutes of short-term memory. She is an astute young housekeeper with a ten-year-old son who is hired to care for him. And between them a strange, beautiful relationship blossoms. Though the professor can hold new memories for only eighty minuets, his mind is still alive with elegant equations from the past; and through him, the numbers, in all of their articulate order, reveal a sheltering and poetic world to both the housekeeper and her son.

After I added Melissa Marr's Graveminder to my list of hopefuls for Christmas, I received it in the mail from the publisher! I'm pretty sure I had a CRS moment and forgot I'd requested it in the first place. Hmmphf! Either way, I'm glad to have it. This looks like a fun book when I'm in the mood for something light and paranormal.

Blurb: Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the attention her grandmother Maylene bestowed upon the dead of Claysville, the small town where Bek spent her adolescence. There wasn't a funeral that Maylene didn't attend, and at each one Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual: She took three sips from a silver flask and spoke the words "Sleep well, and stay where I put you." Now Maylene is dead, and Bek must go back to the place she left a decade earlier. She soon discovers that Claysville is not just the sleepy town she remembers, and that Maylene had good reason for her odd traditions. It turns out that in Claysville the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected; beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D. If the dead are not properly cared for, they will come back to satiate themselves with food, drink, and stories from the land of the living. Only the Graveminder, by tradition a Barrow woman, and her Undertaker—in this case Byron Montgomery, with whom Bek shares a complicated past—can set things right once the dead begin to walk.

Tides of War by Stella Tillyard was another book provided by the publisher. I haven't had a chance to jump in, but reading the early pages of this one makes me think it's a promising read. I also enjoyed Wendy's review over at CaribousMom. I don't read enough sweeping historicals, and I think I'll be in the mood for this one really soon.

Blurb: Tides of War opens in England with the recently married, charmingly unconventional Harriet preparing to say goodbye to her husband, James, as he leaves to join the Duke of Wellington's troops in Spain. Harriet and James's interwoven stories of love and betrayal propel this sweeping and dramatic novel as it moves between Regency London on the cusp of modernity: a city in love with science, the machine, money, and the shocking violence of war in Spain.

Ghost Light, by Joseph O'Connor, is yet another book I saw in a publisher's e-mail, and I jumped on it without hesitation. It looks a little dark and moody and maybe a little seedy in spots. Just the kind of historical novel I want to curl up with underneath the new quilt I received for Christmas.

Blurb: A powerful and deeply moving masterpiece about love, partings and reconciliation — and of the courage involved in living on nobody else's terms. Dublin, 1907. A young actress begins an affair with a damaged older man, the leading playwright at the theatre where she works. Outspoken and flirtatious, Molly Allgood is a Catholic girl from the slums of Dublin, dreaming of stardom in America. Her lover, John Synge, is a troubled genius, whose life is hampered by convention and by the austere and God-fearing mother with whom he lives. Their affair, sternly opposed by friends and family, is quarrelsome, affectionate and tender. Many years later, Molly, now a poverty-stricken old woman, makes her way through London's bomb-scarred city streets, alone but for a snowdrift of memories. Her once dazzling has faded but her unquenchable passion for life has kept her afloat.

Finally, Wendy was kind enough to host a giveaway for The Marriage Artist, by Andrew Winer, and I've been itching to read it ever since it arrived. I've seen good reviews of it here and there in the blogosphere, and y'all know I'm a cover nut, and I like this one a lot. Not to mention the inclusion of art and scandal. Woohoo!

Blurb: When the wife of renowned art critic Daniel Lichtmann plunges to her death, she is not alone. Lying next to her is Benjamin Wind, the very artist Daniel most championed. Dedicating himself to uncovering the secrets of their relationship, Daniel discovers a web of mysteries leading back to pre--World War II Vienna. Ambitious, haunting, and stunningly written, The Marriage Artist is an “elaborate psycho-political-sexual puzzle, with...hard truths, startling visions, and eerie insights into the mystical and memorializing powers of art, and that endless hunger we call love” (Booklist).

While these aren't the only books burning holes in my shelves, I did take the time to make a specific stack of books to read sooner rather than later. They've been sitting across from my favorite blogging spot for a while now, staring at me and mocking me. Little temptresses!

Have you read any of these books? What books are calling out to you the loudest right now?

The Sense of an Ending

2011-12-30T06:00:00.001-06:00

There's a good possibility Julian Barnes' Man Booker Prize-winning novel, The Sense of an Ending, will be my final completed book in 2011. And it's a good way to cap off the year!

My first experience with Julian Barnes's work wasn't really any experience at all. I was scheduled to take a Contemporary British Literature class to cap off my undergraduate degree in 2003, but I ended up dropping the class in favor of a different British lit class with a professor with a bigger, badder attitude. I can't say I regret it, as the class I opted for introduced me to one of the most influential of authors I've ever read: T.S. Eliot and my all-time favorite poem, "The Waste Land". The bigger, badder professor also turned out to be a life changer, leaving the university to pursue the priesthood, largely influenced by T.S. Eliot and his work. His influence drove me to get a graduate degree in English. What's not to love about that?

Why am I wasting your time with this remembrance? Because it is formative and my memories are memories I consider concrete, unchanging, certain. The main character in Barnes's novel, Tony Webster, discovers that his own memories are not so certain. The book is split into two long chapters, the first of which details Tony's adolescence with his three best friends--namely the enigmatic Adrian Finn--as well as his naive fumblings with girlfriend, Veronica. The latter half of the book is Tony's realization that his has been a fulfilling but lackluster adulthood. When he receives an attorney's letter in the mail he's left scrambling through those earlier memories to put together pieces of a puzzle that will thoroughly unsettle him.

This is a great book in a number of ways. First off, it's only 170ish pages in print, and it was only 107 on my Nook. The amount of character building and the sense of realism Barnes is able to infuse in a story of this length is quite an accomplishment. I'm a proponent of short stories, so it's probably not surprising that I would enjoy what amounts, in my mind, to a novella, but I guess the impressive part is the sense of realism Barnes imparts with a lot of different issues swirling around the characters. Issues of time, philosophy, class, relationships, sexuality, and suicide.

To build on that, this novel is a lit-gasm, y'all. There is a ton of talk about literature and literary devices, philosophy, and a good many intertextual references. In the beginning, Tony is reflecting on his experiences in school, and Adrian tends to be pretty brilliant, so the banter about philosophy and literature was really fun for me. I also knew there was an intertextual reference in the title, but it wasn't until I stumbled upon a review in Vogue that I figured out what it was (because I'm too lazy to Google it): "Barnes’s title is taken from critic Frank Kermode, whose landmark analysis of fiction examined the consolations of narrative and the corrections authors make to bring meaning and order to a chaotic world."

The title says so much about the novel. The biggest issue at work in this little book is Tony's struggle with memory. He remembers his first girlfriend as much more of a cold fish than she probably was, he idolizes his friend Adrian more than necessary, and quite honestly, he remembers himself in a much nicer, more flattering light than was true. It's only when he looks back at a letter to Adrian and Veronica that it really dawns on him how fallible memory can be.

I'm SO not doing this book justice. Tony is a regular guy who experiences a big slap to his ego and a big snap back to reality in light of who he and his friends really were in their youth. The only thing that left me slightly unsatisfied was the ending. There is a surprise ending in this book -- a revelation that honestly surprised me, though looking back through my notes and highlights, it probably shouldn't have surprised me. While I was satisfied with the surprise itself, the novel only lasted a few pages past the surprise. As a reader, I wanted Tony to grapple with the truth a bit more before the novel closed. It's a small complaint in the grand scheme of things.

While I am absolutely certain I'm impressed by this book, especially from a technical perspective, I'm not sure how long it'll stick with me. I wasn't touched on an emotional level (which I tend to prefer in picking all-time faves), but I found myself in a constant state of analysis while reading. Barnes is a good storyteller and a thoughtful evaluator of issues. While I'm interested in reading more of his work, and while I appreciate this novel, it didn't win me over on visceral level, but it sure impressed me on the cerebral plane.

Rating:

Snuggle (more like a firm handshake with a professor) -- Skewer

Pub. Date: October 2011
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday
Format: E-book
ISBN-13: 9780307957122
Source: Purchased by me.