The Scarlet Letter

My Thoughts on Melissa Marr, Graveminder

2012-02-01T08:00:00.002-07:00

Melissa Marr's Graveminder begins as the story of a rather strange small town. The town is called Claysville, and there is something a bit off about the residents. For starters, they don't get sick. They also don't leave very often. And now, something even stranger has happened in Claysville: one of the residents has been murdered. The victim is the local graveminder, Maylene Barrow. Soon, Maylene's granddaughter, Rebekkah, is called back for the funeral, and what she finds at home is a different kind of inheritance that anything she had been expecting. She also finds her childhood friend, and on again off again love interest, Byron, who stands to be a bigger part of her life that she had ever imagined.

Graveminder is a bit paranormal for my taste. This doesn't say a lot about the book, but more about me as a reader. I tend to like books that are set in our world (or my experience of it anyway), even if the characters are a little unbelievable. In this book, the characters were certainly believable, but not the world. I enjoyed the fantasy of the "land of the dead," but I felt myself hyper-criticizing the details of the setup, instead of losing myself in Claysville. There is a mystery plot to the book, and I won't spoil anything by telling you that I was in fact surprised by the turns of events. I didn't see much coming in this book, and I can certainly appreciate that.

Overall, my experience reading the book was pleasurable, but not memorable. Pick it up if you are interested in a book that puts an interesting spin on a paranormal romance, with a bit of an historical fiction-y, old fashioned ghost story feel.

Please stop by THIS PAGE to see the other reviews on this tour.

Title: Graveminder

Author: Melissa Marr
Publisher: William Morrow
Date: 2011
Genre: Fiction, Paranormal

324 pages.
Where I got it: From the publisher, through TLC TOURS
Challenges:None

If I convinced you to read this book, and you want to buy it, consider clicking on my affiliate links:

Top Ten Tuesday: Book Clubbin'

2012-01-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

I have never been a member of a book club. I have serious book club envy. Stories of sharing afternoon glasses of wine, finger sandwiches and book discussion make me a bit jealous. So, the topic at The Broke and The Bookish for Top Ten Tuesday this week, just made me a little sad. However, I will do it anyway, since I skipped last week. If I had a book club, here are the TOP TEN books that I think it would be great to read (in no particular order).

10. Jennifer Haigh, Faith...because it is really wonderful, but also contains "issues," which lead to "discussions."
9. Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita...because I did have a brief stint with an online bookclub (no tea or wine or sandwiches), and people's reactions to this book are kind of fascinating.
7. Chris Cleave, Little Bee...because I just really loved it, and it seems book-clubby.
6. Dave Eggers, Zeitoun...because I think it is one of the most important books written in a decade, and everyone should read it (and cry a lot, if you are me anyway).

5. Ian McEwan, Atonement...because the plot feels open, and with openness, there is lots to talk about.
4. F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby...because it deserves reading and discussing beyond high school.
3. Watler Kirn, Up In The Air...because, like I talked about in yesterday's vlog, it is fascinatingly different from the movie.
2. Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale...because I love to teach it and talk about ti.

1. Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible...because I would really like to reread it, and book clubs like to talk about this one. Right?

My Thoughts on Walter Kirn, Up in the Air (A Vlog!)

2012-01-30T15:28:00.001-07:00

Here is my vlog about Up in the Air. There are definitely pug noises, and pugs wandering around in the background. About a minute in, one of them looks like he is peeing on my husband's jacket (and I thought I had busted him), but he didn't.

Title: Up In the Air

Author: Walter Kirn
Publisher: Anchor Books
Date: 2001
Genre: Fiction, Satire
362 pages.

Where I got it: Bought it new.
Challenges:Mount TBR

If I convinced you to read this book, and you want to buy it, consider clicking on my affiliate links:

My Thoughts on Stewart O'Nan, The Odds

2012-01-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

This is my second Stewart O'Nan, although the both that I have read have been novellas. I liked The Odds: A Love Story better than Last Night at Lobster. I think this book made me realize that I could be a serious O'Nan fan. It isn't flashy. It is a terse, slight book that contains volumes about love and about humanity.

The book is told in alternating perspectives in the voices of Art and Marion Fowler, who are embarking on a "second honeymoon" to Niagra Falls on what we quickly learn is the eve of their divorce:

"They would spend their last days and nights as man and wife as they'd spent the first, nearly thirty years ago, in Niagra Falls, as if, across the border, by that fabled and overwrought cauldron of new beginnings, away from any domestic everyday claims, they might find each other again."

However, the divorce is motivated by the couple's financial hardship after the loss of Art's job, and so is the trip to Canada, where Art hopes to win big on his life savings before he loses it all in bankruptcy. So, for Art the whole trip is a gamble. He is betting on his ability to allude the authorities, to use a system derived from internet searching guaranteeing a win at the roulette wheel, and to win back his wife, who sees the divorce as a far more final move than he does.

The portrait of a marriage as it dissolves, with no violence and actually quite a bit of tenderness, is heartbreaking, but hopeful. Although Art and Marion have grown apart, separated by life and by their mistakes, they still function as a pair, like parts of the same whole. O'Nan gives a snapshot of marriage as a living, breathing, and working entity, and I as a reader, couldn't help but root for the Fowlers and hope for their future.

Each chapter in The Odds, begins with a set of odds, from the very likely (Odds of a marriage proposal being accepted: 1 in 1.001), to the surprisingly likely (Odds of surviving going over the Falls in a barrel: 1 in 3), to the depressing (Odds of a U.S. citizen filing for bankruptcy: 1 in 17), to the nearly impossible (Odds of surviving going over the Falls without a barrel: 1 in 1, 500, 000). O'Nan asks us, through this little story, to think about our own lives and our own odds. Do we make our luck, or is it fate? What do the odds mean translated into individual terms?

Highly recommended.

Title: The Odds:A Love Story

Author: Stewart O'Nan
Publisher: Viking
Date: 2012 (January 19th)
Genre: Fiction, Novella

192 pages.
Where I got it: From the publisher, through Net Galley
Challenges:None

If I convinced you to read this book, and you want to buy it, consider clicking on my affiliate links:

Top Ten Tuesday: Recommendations

2012-01-17T18:48:00.000-07:00

This week at The Broke and the Bookish, they are asking us TTTers to make some recommendations. Here is the topic:

Top Ten Books I'd Recommend for People Who Don't Read X

For me, X = American Literary Fiction (classic and contemporary) - In no particular order...here are a bunch of mostly dead, mostly white guys that I love to read.

11. Ralph Ellison, The Invisible Man
10. Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie
9. Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises
8. F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
7. Flannery O'Connor, A Good Man is Hard to Find
6. Toni Morrison, Beloved
5. Frank Norris, McTeague
4. William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury
3. Don DeLillo, White Noise
2.Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson
1. Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter

I know, I have eleven. Whaddya gonna do:)

Flashback to Frankenstein

2012-01-12T19:10:00.000-07:00

I reread Frankenstein in 2011, along with my students, but I never posted on it. So, I thought I would have a bit of a flashback and post my original post from LiveJournal that I wrote while I was studying for my M.A. exam in 2008. This is the form that I used for studying for exams, and I posted them all on a blog, so I guess that was my first real foray into book blogging. Since what follows is all academic-y, I'll also mention that I love the book. The language is a bit turgid, but it is a wonderful, thought-provoking book. So, here it is, my study guide to Shelley.

Author/Title: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly, Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus (1818, 1831)
Major Characters: Victor Frankenstein, Elizabeth, Henry Clerval, the Monster, Walton

Plot Summary (SPOILERS AHEAD): The narrative begins with the letters of R. Walton, describing to his sister the voyage he undertakes to explore the North Pole. On this expedition he comes across a man stranded on a floating chunk of ice. He picks up the man (Vicor Frankenstein), befriends him and listens to his story, which dominates most of the remaining narrative. Victor is a scientist who learns to create life from inert matter. He determines to create a man, and does so by collecting parts of corpses and animating the final product, which is ultimately fearful. He feels like he is losing his mind and allows the monster to escape. Eventually his father writes him to say that his young brother Willliam has been strangled and he must return home immediately. He does so and sees the monster. He knows that the monster has killed William, but the innocent Justine is blamed and put to death. Victor feels guilty for both of these deaths. The monster confronts him and tells his story of being shunned by the world. He retreats into a hovel where he learns to speak by observing a family in a nearby cottage. He determines to confront them and try to befriend them. He approaches the blind father, but when the children arrive they are frightened and he leaves. Realizing that he has no chance to befriend humanity, he embarks on a path of destruction. He wishes for Victor to create a woman that will be equally hideous and will be his companion. Victor agrees and departs for England with Clerval. The monster follows. Victor begins his new creation but determines that he will not continue because he does not want to wreak havoc on the world. The monster is angry and kills Clerval. He tells Victor that this is not the end, but he will “see him on his wedding night” and will kill him. Victor weds his intended Elizabeth, but on their wedding night, the monster arrives and strangles her. Victor embarks on a quest to find and kill the monster that brings him to the Arctic. Meanwhile on the boat, the men are planning to revolt against Walton because they wish to return to England. Walton encourages them to continue on, but eventually agrees to retreat. Victor wants to stay and continue his pursuit, but is physically weak and dies on the ship. Walton comes in and sees the monster standing over the scientist’s body. He says that he is sorry for what he has done. He tells Walton that he will kill himself for his crimes and then disappears into the darkness.

Major themes: Science, Masculinity, Monstrosity, the Fall, Romanticism, Guilt
Common trope, textual motif: Ice, Nature, the Monster, epistolary
Important quotations or page/chapter references:
“It was very different, when the masters of the science sought immortality and power; such views, although futile, were grand: but now the scene was changed. The ambition of the inquirer seemed to limit itself to the annihilation of those visions on which my interest in science was chiefly founded. I was required to exchange chimeras of boundless grandeur for realities of little worth” (29).
“After days and nights of incredible labor and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter” (33).
“I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” (37)
“I had been the author of unalterable evils; and I lived in daily fear, lest the monster whom I had created should perpetrate some new wickedness” (66).
“Every thing is related in them which bears reference to my accursed origin; the whole detail of that series of disgusting circumstances which produced it is set in view; the minutest description of my odious person is given, in language which painted your own horrors, and rendered mine ineffaceable. I sickened as I read. ‘Hateful day when I received life’ I exclaimed in agony. ‘Cursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? God in pity made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of your’s, more horrid from its very resemblance. Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and detested” (99).
“During these last days I have been occupied in examining my past conduct; nor do I find it blameable. In a fit of enthusiastic madness I created a rational creature, and was bound towards him, to assure, as far as was in my power, his happiness and well-being. This was my duty; but there was another still paramount to that. My duties towards my fellow-creatures had greater claims to my attention, because they included greater proportion of happiness or misery” (171).
“He had partially unveiled the face of Nature, but her immortal lineaments were still a wonder and a mystery. He might dissect, anatomise, and give names; but, not to speak of a final cause, causes in their secondary and tertiary grades were utterly unknown to him. I had gazed upon the fortifications and impediments that seemed to keep human beings from entering the citadel of nature, and rashly and ignorantly I had repined” (200).

Contexts (critical, historical, cultural, theoretical, etc.): Masculinity studies, Romanticism, many intertexts particularly Coleridge “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” the Prometheus Myth, and Paradise Lost

Narrative voice, tone, pacing: The novel begins as an epistolary and then begins Victor Frankenstein’s tale, and within that the tale of the monster.

Misc. responses: (THE GOOD STUFF)
Science: There is a clear message here that science has destructive potential. This is a theme that is pervasive amongst the 18th century satirists as well. Shelley clearly sees that attempts to control life and death, makes man into a god (or into Satan). Similar themes are present in Hawthorne in “Rapaccini’s Daughter and The Birthmark.” When hunger for power leads one to imitate God, the impulse becomes destruction.

Male Reproduction: The way the power plays out in Hawthorne is that the men of science take control of the female body. Paradise Lost (if we don’t count the Bible) is the Ur-text of male reproduction. The great patriarch is the creator. Frankenstein is the story of science as a similar type of creation. This is creation without a mother, and without the proper psychological identifications that occur in infancy. The monster has a warped initiation into the human realm. He is initiated into language and confronts his own self image, but all he finds is the grotesque. His ultimate desire is for a female presence that he is denied in a mother figure. There is a lot of anxiety here about parenting and giving birth (Gilbert and Gubar point out that Mary Shelley was nineteen and pregnant when she wrote the novel), that is played out in a very expansive realm. So many relationships are implicated here: parent/child, father/son, God/man, God/Satan. Much of the time, it is unclear who is playing what role. Both Victor and his monster occupy the role of Satan, but also God and Adam. Then Walton is a mirror of Victor and in the same way that the monster appears as the uncanny representation of Victor’s desire, Victor does the same for Walton and his grand ambition.

Don't worry, I won't post many more of these:) Reading back through it was a fun flashback for me though. Have you read Frankenstein? What did you think?

Top Ten Tuesday: More, please.

2012-01-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the BBAW award-winning, The Broke and the Bookish. The topic this week is: Top Ten Authors I Wish Would Write Another Book (living, or not).

10. Bret Easton Ellis (please write one more like Lunar Park)

9. Maira Kalman (by herself)

8. Nathaniel Hawthorne

7. Evan Mandery

6. Benjamin Hale

5. Rachel Simon

4. Dave Eggers

3. Graham Swift (who is coming out with a new one this year)

2. Marjane Satrapi

1. Zadie Smith (I'd be pretty stoked about a new novel even though I haven't read all her other fiction books)

Who would you like to see come out with a new release? What classic authors can you just not get enough of?

My Thoughts on Alan Heathcock, Volt

2012-01-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

"The electric sign from the Krafton Bowl and Lounge was a vibrant white square atop a tall post. Set back from the road, the lounge's roof and all but one wall had collapsed. Smoldering lumber jutted from charred brick. Bowling lanes lay exposed to the night, and in the lane oil lapped tiny spectral flames like a riot of hummingbirds."

Alan Heathcock's collection of short stories about an imagined town, somewhere, one assumes, in middle America, is most easily described as dark, or maybe tragic. The first story in the collection begins with a man accidentally killing his own son in a farming accident. I mean, pretty dark, right? The collection almost made my top ten of the year, but it wasn't an easy read. Heathcock creates a deep sense of foreboding and incredible tension. His descriptions are like living things (I mean, "a riot of hummingbirds"), and the experience of reading is almost cinematic. It's good guys, like REALLY good.

The content of the stories varies. Some of my favorite stories in the collection feature the town's woman Sheriff, who is one of the most astutely drawn female characters that I've recently encountered in fiction. There are murders, and journeys, and ruminations on war and poverty. Heathcock creates a sense of oppressive insularity in his fictional town, Krafton. What struck me the most was the characterization of young boys in the novel. Young boys become violent men, perhaps, in an environment such as this one, and so they hold a sort of terrifying potential. And it was this potential, for violence and disintegration, that seemed to haunt the whole book, making my nerves edgy even when nothing seemed to be happening.

I had to read the book slowly, because I couldn't take it in all at once. I mean this as a great compliment. Heathcock very successfully manipulates the reader's emotions and transports her to a place that doesn't exist geographically, but certainly seems to emotionally. I highly recommend this book.

Title: Volt

Author: Alan Heathcock
Publisher/Price: Graywolf Press, $15.00
Date: 2011
Genre: Short Stories

207 pages.
Where I got it: I won it from The Next Best Book Club Book Blog
Challenges:None

If I convinced you to read this book, and you want to buy it, consider clicking on my affiliate links:

2011 Wrap Up Post - The Statistics Edition

2012-01-05T18:46:00.000-07:00

Image from http://paulbarsch.wordpress.com

71 total books read

19, 718 pages (including audio converted to pages)

34 books published in 2011!!! (I plan to work on this in 2012)

1831 publication year for the oldest book read

30 adult fiction books
16 young adult books
12 non-fiction books
6 graphic novels (fiction and non)
5 short story collections
2 books of poetry

29 books by men
41 books by women
1 book by a man and a woman

7 books by authors from outside the U.S.

27 advanced reading copies or books for review
7 ebooks (including Net Galleys)
5 audiobooks

11 books I bought new
8 books I bought used
17 library books
3 books I won
1 traded book

Reflections:

This was a great reading year for me, and the first year that I have chronicled all of my reading habits in such detail. I am disappointed in the lack of variety in the books I read, especially in terms of time period. I would like to read some older books and backlist books this year. However, I have read lots of classics and still kind of consider myself a recovering academic, enjoying the privilege of reading freely, so I'm happy to continue to do that-- just with a little more variety. I'm impressed by how many library books I read, and I'm surprised at how few of the books I bought new (since I buy a lot of new books, I'd better get to reading them). In general, there is nothing here that horrifies me, but there are some things that might contribute to my 2012 reading goals- coming soon!

Two More 2012 Challenges:

2012-01-04T22:30:00.000-07:00

I'm signing up for 2 more, and that is it, for a total of 5:

The Chunkster Challenge is hosted by Vasilly and Wendy on it's own site. This challenge asks you to read books longer than 450 pages- no audiobooks, or ebooks. I failed this challenge last year, but I'm determined again this year. However, to be realistic, I will sign up for the lowest level -- The Chubby Chunkster. That is four chunky books)

Here are some possible choices (with plenty of alternates):
Jonathan Franzen, Freedom
Don DeLillo, Underworld
Neal Stephenson, Reamde
Stephen King, 11/22/63 or The Stand or It
Justin Cronin, The Passage
Adam Levin, The Instructions
Karl Marlantes, Matterhorn
Paul Murray, Skippy Dies
Thomas Pynchon, V
David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

or others...maybe some by women.

The other challenge that I'm signing up for again this year, despite last years failure is:

You can find the sign up post HERE.

To be safe this year, I will be signing up for: Hajime - Read one book

I have read:
Norwegian Wood (although I would like to again)
Sputnik Sweetheart
The Wind Up Bird Chronicle

So, it won't be any of those.

Top Ten Tuesday: Looking Ahead

2012-01-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

Picasso, "Woman Reading"

This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic over at the Broke and the Bookish is: Top Ten Books You Are Looking Forward to in 2012.

I'm really going to try to read more backlist books that I have in 2012, so I'm going to split this list into two categories: new releases that I'm anticipating and books from my shelves that I'm excited to read.

NEW RELEASES:

5. John Green, The Fault in Our Stars (January 10th): I heart John Green, so I pre-ordered this months ago. The main character in this one is terminally ill and it is sure to be a tear jerker, but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless.

4. Adam Levin, Hot Pink (March 13th): Although I haven't read Levin's BEHEMOTH debut, The Instructions, I'm still looking forward to this short story collection that has been getting buzz for a while now.

3. Lauren Groff, Arcadia (March 13th): I have an ARC of this one and I like the concept: portrait of a commune meets sprawling family drama.

2. Toni Morrison, Home (May 8th): I haven't read as much Toni Morrison as I would like to, but I still looking forward to this new release that sounds thematically similar to many of her past works.

1. Beth Revis, A Million Suns (January 10th): This is the second in the YA series that began with Across the Universe, which I read for review last year and liked a surprising amount. I'm hearing good things about this continuation of Revis' space odyssey.

FROM THE SHELVES:

5. Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: With the movie coming out, I think it is time to remedy the fact that I haven't read either of Foer's books.

4. Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot: I couldn't wait for this to come out, so I think it is going to be coming up soon in my reading.

3. Nicole Krauss, The History of Love: Here is another book that I hear nothing but all GOOD THINGS about, and I still haven't read it.

2. W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil: This is on the list for one of the challenges I'm signed up for, and I'm really anticipating reading it. I liked the movie a lot, and I really am eager this year to get back to things published before I was born.

1. Donna Tartt, The Secret History: Again, this is for a challenge that I've signed up for and it has been sitting on my shelves FOREVER. It's lived in at least two houses with me.

What do you plan to read in 2012? New releases you are looking forward to? Some old dusty lurkers on your shelves?

The Sunday Salon: Epic Fails and Great Successes

2012-01-01T08:00:00.001-07:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I thought that today's Sunday Salon would be a perfect time to look back at the challenges that I committed to in 2011. Some were a success, others not so much, but I'm sure I'll be updating my tab soon so that you can see that I will be committing myself again.

So, here they are:

FIRST, the challenges that I FAILED (so that we can end on a positive note):

The most epic of my failures was the Murakami Challenge. I read NO Murakami this year, although I did recently purchase 1Q84, and I might sign up again next year.

I also read NOTHING for the Victorian Challenge hosted by Subtle Melodrama.

My third incomplete goes to the East and Southeast Asian Reading Challenge, for which I read one book, Banana Yoshimoto's, The Lake. However, if Indian Literature had been included, I would have completed it I think:)

Incomplete again: The Chunkster Challenge. I signed up for the Chubby Chunkster, and declared 2011 the year of the chunkster for me, and then I only read one. However, the one, The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore, was one of my favorites of the year. This ended up being a year of shorter books, but this is another one I might sign up for again.

Then there is the Back to the Classics Challenge hosted by Sarah Reads Too Much. I am already signed up for this challenge again next year. I really want to read more books not recently published. I read three of the eight books for the challenge this year, and two of those were published in the 21st century. The third was a reread. BOO! But, on to next year...

AND TO MY SUCCESSESS!

These are the challenges that I did complete:

http:brokeandbookish.blogspot.com

My List:

Culture:Sloane Crosley, I Was Told There'd Be Cake

Art: Jay-Z, Decoded

Medical:Schwarz and Gladding, You Are Not Your Brain

Travel:Lucy Knisley, French Milk

Memoir: Joyce Carol Oates, A Widow's Story

Science/Nature: Susan Casey, The Wave

My favorite from this challenge:


http://graphicnovelschallenge.blogspot.com/

My List:

1. Maira Kalman, And the Pursuit of Happiness
2. Seymour Chwast, Dante's Divine Comedy
3. Lucy Knisley, French Milk
4. Alison Bechdel, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
5. David Small, Stitches: A Memoir
6. Craig Thompson, Blankets

My favorite from this challenge:

But it is really hard to choose. I loved all these books and loved reading graphic novels again. Now I don't feel like I need a challenge to keep going.

http://gothicreadingchallenge.blogspot.com

My List:

1.Daphne DuMaurier, Rebecca

2. David Small, Stitches
3. Bret Easton Ellis, Imperial Bedrooms
4. Ransom Riggs, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
5. Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

My Favorite:

http://teawithmarce.blogspot.com/2010/11/i-want-more-book-challenge-2011.html

My List:

1. Chuck Palahniuk, Survivor

2. Bret Easton Ellis, Imperial Bedrooms

3. Banana Yoshimoto, The Lake

4. David Levithan, A Lover's Dictionary

5.J. Courtney Sullivan, Maine

My Favorites:

MAINE is on my top ten of the year, but I also totally dug The Lover's Dictionary.

So, THAT'S ALL FOLKS. How about you? Do you usually join challenges? Do you finish them?

My Thoughts on Kurt Kamm, Code Blood

2011-12-31T08:00:00.002-07:00

This book was pretty far out of my comfort zone guys. I have read some noir/mystery/thrillers, but not many, so I come to this book pretty unfamiliar with the genre. The story begins with a girl and an accident. Colt Lewis, a Paramedic in training shows up and finds himself entangled in the very strange story of this girl, with a severed foot. Oh yeah, and the foot has apparently been stolen. Kamm weaves together Colt's story with the stories of an albino fetishist vampire, a Chinese immigrant genetics researcher and a gang of Russian thugs in the business of selling body parts.

The book was not nearly as dark as it sounds, although there were certainly some cringe inducing scenes. What stood out the most to me about the book was the detail in Kamm's writing. It was very clear that he had researched extensively in many areas in order to produce the narrative. I learned things about genetics, about the field of paramedicine and about Chinese culture. This is one of the things that I enjoyed the most about the read, although it was occasionally too detailed and detracted from the pacing of the narrative.

I was disappointed by the ending of the book, although I certainly won't ruin it for anyone else. I think I was expecting to be more surprised, or for it to be a bit twistier. The strength of the book for me was really the development of some of the characters, in particular A Li, the young genetics researcher. I'm not sure how this book stacks up with other contemporary L.A. noir novels, but I would imagine that it has something to add. I would recommend it for fans of the genre, and for readers comfortable with and interested in the type of material.

Title: Code Blood

Author:Kurt Kamm
Publisher/Price: MCM Publishing, $14.95
Date: 2011
Genre: L.A. Noir, Fiction

231 pages.
Where I got it: I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review
Challenges: None

If you liked my review, you can purchase the book here through one of my affiliate links:

My Thoughts on J. Courtney Sullivan, Maine

2011-12-29T08:00:00.040-07:00

Most people would classify J. Courtney Sullivan's book Maine as a summer read, or a beach read. For me, it was a bright spot in my winter reading. The story is of four women, three generations in an Irish Catholic family from Boston that summers in Maine. The four perspective characters are Alice, the matriarch, her daughter Kathleen, a recovering alcoholic who has escaped her family's clutches to a worm farm in California, Anne Marie, Alice's daughter-in-law who is obsessed with keeping up appearances as a perfect suburban housewife, and Maggie, Kathleen's granddaughter who is going through some major life changes of her own. They all meet up at the family house in Maine, under unexpected circumstances and, slowly, many of the family's deeply held secrets are revealed.

Nothing much happens in the story plot-wise. The structure of the story is a careful revealing, of the Kelleher's past and of the secrets that they keep from one another. Anne Marie says of the family she married into, "Even after thirty-three years of marriage, Ann Marie sat at every family dinner and listened to them tell the same stories, over and over. She had never met a family so tied up in their own mythology." But it is that family mythology, and the fully drawn characters that make Sullivan's book such a pleasure to read.

Sullivan reminds me why I love intelligent, literary women's fiction. She is a skilled chronicler of the lives of women of many ages and many circumstances. I thought that her first book Commencement was great as well, although this one feels more "grown up." I would recommend them both.

Title: Maine
Author:J. Courtney Sullivan
Publisher/Price: Knopf, $25.95
Date: 2011
Genre: Literary Fiction/ Women's Fiction

385 pages.
Where I got it: From the publisher, and I also bought my own copy
Challenges: I Want More Challenge

Top Ten Tuesday: The Best Of 2011

2011-12-27T17:09:00.001-07:00

Break out the champagne, I'm finally ready to post the best of list (which also happens to be the topic today for The Broke and The Bookish Top Ten Tuesday). These are the ten best books that I read in 2011, not necessarily published in 2011 (although most of them were). The links this week go to my reviews, click on the images if you would like to buy the books through my Powells' affiliate links.

#10: Rachel Simon,The Story of Beautiful Girl
I was really moved by this story of two people who run away from an asylum together, are separated, and spend the rest of their lives looking for one another. It was beautifully written and the story was important.

9. J. Courtney Sullivan, Maine:
I haven't reviewed this one yet, but I really enjoyed the interweaving narratives of three generations of women from an Irish Catholic family who come together in a summer of many changes at their Maine beach house.

8. Peter Mountford, A Young Man's Guide to Late Capitalism:
I was surprised by this book. Not only did it teach me a few things about economics, I was engrossed in the saga of the young reporter turned hedge fund lackey as he navigated his new position in South America. In the end, it is a great coming of age story for a generation (mine) that sees to be coming of age a little late.

7. Emma Straub, Other People We Married
This is one of the best short story collections I've read. I enjoyed the accuracy of Ms. Straub's descriptions of the everyday and her quirky set of characters.

6. Evan Mandery, Q: A Novel
This was a strange, but really lovely little story about time travel, and about love, and about finding happiness. This is another one that surprised me in a very good way.

5. Joyce Carol Oates, A Widow's Story: A Memoir
I'm not always a big fan of memoirs, but I couldn't stop reading this one about Oates' husband's death and the year following it. Yes, it is very sad, but also very worth reading and it got me interested in reading more of Oates' fiction because she is such a skilled writer.

4. Anne Carson, Autobiography of Red
Carson calls this strange little book a novel in verse. It is part poetry, part rumination on language, part rewriting of myth, part coming of age story. It's amazing.

3. John Green and David Levithan, Will Grayson, Will Grayson
This might be my favorite YA novel, like ever. It got me hooked on John Green. This is the story of two Will Graysons and how their lives intersect. And it is also very much about male friendships. And Tiny Cooper.

2. Benjamin Hale, The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore
Kind of like Lolita, but narrated by a chimp? Why wouldn't you read this. This one is definitely not for every reader, but I found it refreshing and unique, and I never just wanted it to be over with despite its length.

1. Maira Kalman, And the Pursuit of Happiness
I have a girl crush on Maira Kalman (and Emma Straub actually). I simultaneously want to read everything she has ever written (or drawn) and I want to not, so that I can savor them slowly lest they run out. This is my favorite of the year, and it is the story of Maira's love affair with American history + awesome (ly strange) drawings.

Honorable Mentions:
Alison Bechdel, Fun Home
Rebecca Makkai, The Borrower
Ann Patchett, The Getaway Car
Jennifer Egan, A Visit From the Goon Squad
Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

What were your favorite reads this year? Have you read any of mine?

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T16:29:00.000-07:00

I hope that it looks like this under your tree!

Last Minute Shopping? Some Bookish Deals...

2011-12-21T21:41:00.000-07:00

So, I don't usually post stuff like this, but seeing as it is Christmas, I've recently taken advantage of some sweet Kindle deals, and thought you may want to as well. These were books that were on my wishlist and happened to be super cheap in the e-format.

The Last Werewolf is showing up on a few best of lists and is currently $3.99. I didn't buy this one, because I've already purchased a hardcover, but I was kicking myself a bit.

This one has been on my radar for a while, and it is a bangin' deal at $2.99.

Here we have a creepy dystopian that I read about on a blog (can't remember whose) a while back. It's $1.99.

Finally, for Sloane Crosley fans out there...

...she has a new Kindle Single, on which I have a book crush.
Good luck with your last minute shopping. Are you all ready for the holidays?

*Links are affiliate links, so if you click them and buy something, you will be contributing to The Scarlet Letter book fund:)

Midwinter's Eve Giveaway Hop!

2011-12-21T00:01:00.006-07:00

This giveaway hop is hosted by I Am A Reader Not a Writer and I thought it was a perfect opportunity to give away my second copy of Ransom Riggs, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Please visit the site for links to all of the other giveaways (I KNOW I will:)).

My Review HERE

I bought my own copy just before I received one from the publisher in the mail, so this is a brand new, unread copy, with a special surprise thrown in.

The giveaway ENDS on December 27th and is open to U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY! To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter giveaway form.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Top Ten Tuesday: Must be Santa...

2011-12-20T11:27:00.001-07:00


image from marthastewart.com

Top Ten Tuesday is my favorite bookish meme, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. With Christmas around the corner (SQUEE, I love Christmas), the topic this week is: Top Ten Books I Hope Santa Brings.

Let me preface by saying that I don't need any books. None at all, but I will mine my wishlist for a few that I wouldn't mind finding under the tree. All my justifications this week are quotes from other bloggers, with a link to the blog quoted, so that you can go and read all their wonderful reviews:)

10. Yannick Murphy, The Call : "It's one of kind, funny, sad, true, and utterly unputdownable. I absolutely love everything about The Call."-- From Beth Fish Reads

9.Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler, The Future of Us: "Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler’s collaborative The Future Of Us is a fast-paced, interesting read that will bring on waves of nostalgia for twenty-somethings (like me!) who can remember life before AOL, AIM, Facebook and MySpace. A time when our lives weren’t on display; when people didn’t yak on cell phones in restaurants and on the Metro; when your family photos were bound in albums, not tagged on Facebook." - From Write Meg!

8.Hit RECord, The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories Vol. 1: "It's not earth shattering but I found myself smiling while I read them. They are clever, witty, thought provoking, and enjoyable. Some of the illustrations had me laughing out loud. Others were a little sad." From A Musing Reviews

7.Kitty Burns Florey, Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: The Quirky History and the Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences: "It would be impossible to overemphasize the shelf appeal of an accessible, diagramming-related book to the likes of me." From Book-Blog.com [This is pretty much how I feel as well:)]

6.Denis Johnson, Train Dreams: "These chapters pass like visions – like the fevered hallucinations that infect a logging crew near the beginning of this spectacular, short burst of fiction." --From Book Punch

5.The Best American Nonrequired Reading 20011 (Dave Eggers, Ed): "Forget the bland title, the latest Best American Nonrequired Reading presents a fresh, amusing, and wide-ranging compendium of last year's best nonfiction and fiction." From For the Love of Reading

4.Herve Le Tellier, Enough About Love: "I love author Hervé Le Tellier for examining the complexity of sex and relationships without judging his characters for their actions." --From The Book Lady's Blog (you should go read the whole review, which is adorable).

3.Maile Meloy, The Apothecary: "It is that familiarity that won me over and that makes this the type of story I will return to when I'm looking for a quick, feel good read." -- From Indie Reader Houston

2.Helen Oyeyemi, Mr. Fox: "Having now read Mr. Fox, Helen Oyeyemi’s fourth novel, I feel confident saying that I love, love, love Oyeyemi!" --From The Striped Armchair

1.Elissa Schappell, Blueprints for Building Better Girls: "Schappell is brilliant at ensconcing the reader in place, a teenage bedroom with Jacques Cousteau playing in the background, a drunken college campus, a quiet well-to do home, a starving artists’ view of New York City–then she starts peeling back the layers. By the end of each story, we are left as changed as the characters, with more to think about." From Annotation Nation

The Sunday Salon: Secret Santa Edition

2011-12-18T17:10:00.001-07:00

I thought that this weeks TSS would be a perfect opportunity to share my loot from the Book Blogger Holiday Swap (which I totally recommend):

My gift came from Nise at Under The Boardwalk, and here it is:

Inventory:

1 cute little card with bears on it

1 book of fancy treats for my puggies:)

1 box of Cream Nuts that were super delicious and my husband and I ate right away

1 Starbucks gift card (that I used for some sweet holiday drinks)

1 snowman tree ornament
1 travel size Philosophy Gingerbread body wash

1 copy of Diana Gabaldon, Outlander

1 copy of Helen Simonson, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

1 copy of Shirley Vernick, The Blood Lie (which I haven't heard of, but looks interesting and maybe like it has something in common with my blog's namesake)

THANK YOU NISE!

In other news this week, I finished TWO books and started TWO new books and I implemented a new commenting system on the blog. I like it so far, but it did wipe out all my old comments when I installed it, which was a bummer. Luckily I can still access them from my dashboard.

How was your week? Ready for Christmas?

Swept Up in the Hype: My Thoughts On Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus

2011-12-17T17:07:00.000-07:00

" 'Stories have changed, my dear boy,' the man in the grey suit says, his voice almost imperceptibly sad. 'There are no more battles between good and evil, not monsters to slay, no maidens in need of rescue [...] There are no longer simple tales with quests and beasts and happy endings. The quests lack clarity of goal or path. The beasts take different forms and are difficult to recognize for what they are. And there are never really endings, happy or otherwise. Things keep going on, they overlap and blur, your story is part of your sister's story is part of many other stories and there is no telling where any of them may lead. Good and evil are a great deal more complex than a princess and a dragon, or a wolf and a scarlet-clad girl. And is not the dragon the hero of his own story? Is not the wolf simply acting a a wolf should act? [...]'"

The passage above was one of the most striking in The Night Circus, not in terms of descriptive detail, which is certainly one of the strengths of the book that has been discussed at length by many other reviewers. Instead the passage gets at something that lies at the heart of the book, it's purpose perhaps. On one hand, The Night Circus, is a fairy tale, a fable, a love story. I went into the book ready to be enchanted, and what I found was something that didn't disappoint me, but did surprise me. It surprised me, because on the other hand, it is something dark and a little subversive and not at all traditional.

It is unlikely that this is the first review of this book that you've read, so you probably already know that the main story line of the book concerns a contest between two budding illusionists that plays out within a magical circus that appears in the middle of the night and disappears nearly as quickly. As I began reading, I found what other readers have found: an enchanting setting and compelling storyline. I was also totally impressive by Morgenstern's use of the third person omniscient point of view (which isn't in all chapters), which is almost Dickensian. Then, somewhere around the 100th page, I found myself finding flaws that other readers have also pointed out(see Ellen at Fat Books and Thin Women's review for one example): the multiple perspectives were distracting and the purpose of the contest at the center of the book was only vaguely defined. Not enough exposition. Maybe a little too much description.

However, I kept going and started to see the ends pull together, and also started to recognize something else. This book, dare I say it, might just be trying to something different from other books about magic. In fact, when I got to the quote above, which is on page 377 of 387, I realized that it might be something entirely different than what I thought it was, and now I want to read it again. My new reading of the book, which was totally unexpected is just a little bit postmodern, and brings the world of the circus to life again for this particular reader, even though I really thought it was going to lose me in the middle. What I see the book doing is playing with the familiar tropes, with ideas about magic and about illusion, which is, of course, all about perspective. Morgenstern uses her characters to subvert the traditional narrative, and then reinstates it a bit towards the end. There is a whiff of the allegorical, with character names like Prospero and Widget and Mr. Grey, and then there are all those dang references to Shakespeare. So, the book is playful, and new, and maybe almost as good as the hype, although I'm still not sure. But I definitely recommend it and I can't wait to reread it.

Title: The Night Cirucs
Author: Erin Morgenstern
Publisher/Price: Doubleday, $26.95
Date: 2011
Genre: General Fiction, Fantasy Elements

387 pages.
Where I got it:Powell's Indiespensible
Challenges: Gothic Reading Challenge

Affiliate Links:

BUY IT AT POWELLS
BUY AT AMAZON

Object of Bookish Xmas Lust...

2011-12-15T19:22:00.000-07:00

So, I have a COLD, which I get every semester the minute I submit my final grades. It's like all the stress of the semester keeps me running and then when it releases, it turns into YUCKY GROSS illness. That's my theory anyway. So, as a result of being home with NO WORK and this cold, I've been spending too much time on the internets, looking at things like this...

Image from fashionpolice.net

Books, you say? Shocking. No my friends, those are Kate Spade book clutches, and you can purchase them for your bookish and stylish lady friend HERE. I'm pretty sure Gatsby is SOLD OUT, and I'm also pretty sure that they are the cutest thing ever.

Agreed?

Top Ten Tuesday: Gifts for Book Lovers

2011-12-13T20:05:00.000-07:00

The Broke and the Bookish host Top Ten Tuesday each week and this week's topic, in preparation for the holidays, is: Top Ten Books You Want to Give As Gifts

I love to give books as gifts, and I think there is a book for every person. However, they are intensely personal, so my list this week is mostly geared towards bookish gifts for book lovers (*hint, hint for anyone reading this that might be buying me a gift this year* :))

10. A Subscription to Powells Indispensible
This is for any book lover building a collection. A new selection comes every six weeks, with special surprises. Like Uncle Eddie says in Christmas Vacation, "It's the gift that keeps on giving."
9.The Hunger Games Trilogy (Boxed Set)
This would be a great gift of closet fans of Twilight who haven't given other YA much of a chance. Or for people who don't really read, but loved Twilight. Or for lots of other people because they are just good books.

8.Penguin Clothbound, Major Works of Charles Dickens
I mean look at them up there. Aren't they lovely? These would be great for a lover of the classics, or for someone that loves design. And Dickens just really says Christmas to me...

7.Best American Nonrequired Reading 2011
This is my personal favorite of the Best American series that comes out around this time every year. It is fun to read, and the entries are short for the more reluctant reader. The collection is edited by Dave Eggers and the stories/essays/articles are culled from the hippest of publications.

6.The Complete Persepolis
This would be a great gift for anyone who hasn't yet been introduced to the wonderful world of the graphic novel, or for long time fans for the genre. Or for comic book fans, looking to transition into literature.
5.It's a Book by Lane Smith
This is just the cutest thing. It is great for adults or children, or for adults with children that they hope to mold into little librarian types.

4.The Elements of Style (Strunk and White and Maira Kalman)
Groan if you would like, but I love Strunk and White and it is a classic for every English major's collection. This edition has the added bonus of some lovely Maira Kalman illustrations.

3.The Little Prince, Signed Limited Edition
So, I was just going to put The Little Prince on the list because it is most lovely and perfect for readers of all ages and all levels of bookishness. However, it appears that Powells has a signed limited edition for the bargain price of $9000. If you buy it through my affiliate link, you will support my reading for all of 2012:)
2.Jay-Z, Decoded
This was just released in a new edition. I read it this year and really liked it and it is a nice physical object that would look great on any coffee table.

1. The Complete Melville House Art of the Novella Series
Of course. You can buy the whole set and make any truly bookish lady (like yours truly) squeal with excitement.

What kinds of books do you like to give?

**Most of my links are affiliate links at Powells and Amazon. Click to buy these great gifts and support The Scarlet Letter

The Sunday Salon: Two Reviews for De-Slumping

2011-12-11T16:45:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my reading slump. I'm picking up my pace again now, although it is taking a bit of time to get back into it. I'm almost finished with Volt and I'm also about 2/3 of the way through The Night Circus. But this week, for TSS, I'm going to review the two books that helped pull me out of my slump.

Title: My Boyfriend Wrote a Book About Me (and other stories I shouldn't share with acquaintances, coworkers, taxi drivers, job interviewers, bikini waxers, and ex/current/future boyfiends but have)
Author: Hilary Winston
Publisher/Price: Sterling, $17.95
Date: 2011
Genre: Humor, Essays

223 pages.
Where I got it: I bought it
Challenges:None

I have enjoyed a few collections of humorous essays by women this year (see this review and this one). I couldn't resist this one on sale and my local B &N (which is sadly going out of business, material for a whole 'nother post), and I started reading it right away. Like most books of this sort, it consists mainly of humorous self-deprecation and storytelling that any adult woman who has ever been single, or dating, would relate to somewhat. Winston's situation is unique, however, because she is the subject of a very popular book, written by her ex-boyfriend (said book is The Average American Male, which you can easily discover by googling), and the book is kind of nasty. Essentially this is a breakup story. It is funny,and sometimes tragic and often hopeful. I enjoyed reading it; it was a perfect slump book.

Title: MockingjayAuthor: Suzanne Collins
Publisher/Price: Scholastic, $17.99
Date: 2010
Genre: YA, Series, Dystopian

390 pages.
Where I got it: I bought it
Challenges:I Want More Challenge

I'm a big fan of The Hunger Games. I wanted to stay up late reading it, yadda yadda. I also liked the second in the series, Catching Fire. However, I just couldn't really get into the final book until about 200 pages in, and even then, I had a very different reading experience from the first two books. SPOILERS AHOY (if you haven't read the first two). The third book begins with Katniss after she is plucked out of the Quarter Quell and forced to join the rebel forces in District Thirteen (I know, you have no idea what I'm talking about if you haven't read the books). The first 100 pages at least are just her hanging around, moping and trying to decide whether to be the face of the revolution. No ACTION. Very little ROMANCE, or EXCITEMENT. So, it does get better, but it left me feeling lukewarm in the end. I'm a little mad at myself for putting off reading it so long only to be disappointed. I'm going to have to go back to the beginning to remember what I loved about the OG.

What have you all been reading this lovely Sunday?

And yet another challenge...

2011-12-08T16:46:00.001-07:00

I would like to say that it will probably be my last, but I'm not sure... BTW, I am going to post some reviews soon. I promise.

I have never been much of a mystery/crime/thriller reader, and I am thinking about this challenge as an opportunity to take a lot at some classics of the genre. This one is hosted by Ben at Dead End Follies and you should all check it out.

Here are my TENTATIVE selections:

Hardboiled Classic: Chandler, The Big Sleep

Noir Classic: Cain, Double Indemnity

Prison Book: Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace

Book Written by a Writer that has Done Time: Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Book with a Psychopath Protagonist: Fowles, The Collector

Gothic Novel: Tartt, The Secret History

Classic Novel Whose Plot Revolves Around a Crime: Capote, In Cold Blood

The "Why the HELL am I Getting Myself Into This" Book: I don't know yet. Maybe a Russian. Maybe Pynchon or DFW.