Life's too short to read lame books.

Mr. Bryson, you have let me down. =(


I picked up Made in America because I've been on quite a Bill Bryson kick lately but it is not at all what I expected. I thought it would be travel-related, like about interesting places in the states. I know he wrote a book like that...it's just not this one. This one is about American English. And while that subject usually interests me... this one just leaves me flat. I really don't need to know why some cities are called " -boro" (Hillsboro) and others "- burg" (Newburg).


And I'm irritated, the used bookstore had a whole stack of Jane Austen books and I'd gotten it into my head to read Persuasion next. But when I got there they didn't have it. I could have picked up Northanger Abby but you know... I got into a snit because it didn't have what I wanted.


I also recently finished Wuthering Heights. I had been advised against reading it... and I can see why. The book is deeee-pressing. There's not really a single character with whom I can identify. And it doesn't help much that among the characters introduced in the first few chapters there's a Heathcliff, Cahterine Earnshaw, Catherine Linton, Heathcliff Linton, Hareton Earnshaw, Hindley Earnshaw, and I think a grandfater Hareton Earnshaw as well. I made a list of who was who and still couldn't quite keep all the relationships straight. Gah... far too much work! Irredeemable and indistinguishable characters aside... it was a good book. I was absolutely captivated by the story and did want to know how it turned out. There's a dark Gothic feel to the story that could rival even the most teen-angsty vampire book out there. So in that respect it was refreshing to read a story of the Regency period* that's not all fancy balls and farcical romances. Still I wouldn't say that I *enjoyed* reading it.


I have a couple more books on my shelf... but nothing I'm extremely eager to read. I can't wait to get back home to whole libraries full of books in English. Never mind Powells and all the other bookstores I could practically live in if allowed. Soon soon soon!

TAG: Code Watermelon






*Technically the story takes place in the Georgian period but it's close enough.

Down Under and Up North

I just finished Bill Bryson's "Down Under" published in the US as "In a Sunburned Country."


I'm not really in the mood to write a whole review, but I will say this - it was hilarious. Of the Bryson books I've read so far, this is by far my favorite. I think it's the combination of Australia actually *being* an interesting destination, and Bryson doing considerably more drinking this go 'round. So the moral of the story is, go to Australia, drink a lot, and try not to be killed by any of the many many poisonous plants / animals / rocks / weather that call the continent home.


In other news, after much brainstorming and vacillating, I'm settling into an idea for my return to the US. My contract ends at the end of September. My general plan is to spend October traveling through Laos and Vietnam, and once more through Thailand. There's nothing specific I'm dying to see in either Laos or Vietnam, but it's unlikely that I'll swing through this region again or make a trip here specifically to see them... so it will be good to visit them while it's so convenient. I plan to return to the US in mid-November, most likely flying into SF to spend some time with J. again (basically reversing my steps to come out here). From SF I'm thinking of taking the train to Oregon, stopping in Salem and Eugene to visit some friends around Thanksgiving. This plan puts me back in Portland by December 1.


The glaring disadvantage of this plan is that it puts me back in the Northwest in the height of the cold wet and yucky season... and keeps me away from my beloved corduroy pants & wool winter coat (which are stored in Portland) for a good two or three weeks. Gah!


Oh yeah... and the other little thing.... that whole recession / unemployment extravaganza that's going around... not too thrilled with that.


But the advantage is that I'll be back in the States in time to celebrate Thanksgiving, and I'm not going to lie to you - the thought of missing another year's worth of stuffing and gravy weighed heavily in this decision making process!


Yeah, it's all still a few months out... but I'm definitely feeling like I'm in the home stretch here.

And what a view it is....

It is amazing to me how much 19th century British literature I've been reading since I came to Thailand. It's even more amazing to me that I'd somehow gotten well into my thirties without having read these books. I'm not at all sure where I got the idea, but I thought they would be dry, dense and difficult to read. Not so at all!


My sister recently sent me her beloved, heavily underlined copy of E.M. Forster's A Room with a View. Technically, it's a 20th century novel... but just barely. In any event, I loved it thoroughly.


Plot: A young girl in Italy, meets the wrong sort of boy, and spends much of the rest of the book ignorant of the fact that she's in love with him.


Motto: When in Rome...


Opinion: My only criticisms of this book are of the beginning and the end. First, six characters are introduced in the first page and a half and I had a tough time getting someone fixed in my brain before someone new was introduced or they started referring to one of them by a different name. But I soldiered on and was well rewarded. The characters were entertaining and aptly named the sweet young protagonist "Miss Honeychurch", the eccentric writer "Miss Lavish" the snobby and judgemental fiance "Mr. Vyse".


The story is propelled by coincidence more so than character development. And more than one expository monologue is used to tell the reader how people are feeling, or how they ought to feel. Particularly in the end, one lecture by Mr. Emerson is enough to settle all things in Lucy's mind and from this we are led a bit abruptly to the Happily Ever After ending.


What I loved about the book was first, the feminist bent "If Miss Honeychurch ever takes to live as she plays [the piano], it will be very exciting - both for us and for her." Forster takes a decidedly plain protagonist and urges her to trust herself and to live beyond the expectations of society around her. The other thing I love are the constant asides from the author to the reader. This book is positively full of quotes that are as true today as they were a hundred years ago.

Miss Bartlett (the spinster cousin) "had worked like a great artist; for a time - indeed, for years -- she had been meaningless, but at the end there was presented to the girl the complete picture of a cheerless, loveless world in which the young rush to destruction until they learn better -- a shamefaced world of precautions and barriers which may avert evil, but which do not seem to bring good, if we may judge from those who have used them most."

"Secrecy has this disadvantage: we lose the sense of proportion; we cannot tell whether our secret is important or not."

"She reflected that it is impossible to foretell the future with any degree of accuracy, that it is impossible to rehearse life. A fault in the scenery, a face in the audience, an irruption of the audience on to the stage, and all our carefully planned gestures mean nothing, or mean too much."

"She gave up trying to understand herself, and joined the vast armies of the benighted, who follow neither the heart nor the brain, and march to their destiny by catch-words. The armies are full of pleasant and pious folk. But they have yielded to the only enemy that matters--the enemy within. They have sinned against passion and truth, and vain will be their strife after virtue. As the years pass, they are censured. Their pleasantry and their piety show cracks, their wit becomes cynicism and their unselfishness hypocrisy; they feel and produce discomfort wherever they
go. They have sinned against Eros and against Pallas Athene, and not by any eavenly intervention, but by the ordinary course of nature, those allied deities will be avenged."

This is a beautifully beautifully written book. I'd recommend it to travelers, romantics and adventurers alike.


TAG: Code Watermelon

Almost French

Thanks again to my literary patroness B for the next book on my reading list... Almost French by Sarah Turnbull

Plot
Aussie girl meets Parisian boy, they fall in love, settle down and live happily ever after.... you know, eventually. ;)

Motto
C'est la vie.

Opinion
I've read a fair few travel memoirs since coming to Thailand. I have a common complaint against all of them, and it is admittedly unreasonably. They are all written by ... writers. Not just writers, but worse, *journalists*. I don't know, it gives all the books the same flavor. Yes, they still experience the highs and lows, the adventures of travel. And they, in general, express themselves well. But I get tired of reading about how they go to point A to interview so & so, and they go to point B to interview so & so. It ends up being as much of a behind the scenes look at being a writer as it is about the places they actually go to. I'd really like to read about the adventures of an average Joe/Jane who travels for a change. If you know of such a book - tell me!


That petty complaint out of the way.... let's move on to the real criticisms. Do you know, I think what I enjoy most about reading travel memoirs is picking on the author/adventurer. I'm so bad. Actually, my one complaint is that she spends a fair amount of time in the beginning of the book moaning about how she's stuck in her apartment all day and I just wanted to scream at her "SO GO OUTSIDE!" Yeah, she's far from the center of town, yeah, she doesn't have anyone to go with. I guess I just have no tolerance for people who can't solve a basic problem like "I"m bored because I'm stuck inside all day." Rayong is about as far from Paris as you can get and still... if I walk out my front door, I'm 10 times more likely to have some kind of interaction, some kind of excitement or adventure as I would be if I just stayed in my room all day. OK - seriously... all complaints over now!



While she's nowhere near as funny as Bill Bryson, I did smile as she went through the trials and tribulations of adjusting to a new culture. She mortifies her boyfriend by wearing sweatpants to the bakery "It's not nice for the baker!" he exclaims. While interviewing a top military officer she uses the informal 'tu' form (noting that his own wife probably uses the 'vous' form with him) and bids him a very casual "bye bye". She goes through the typical stages of culture shock, initial fascination, then struggle & resentment, and eventually acceptance. Gradually she begins to understand more about French culture and French people. She adapts in some ways, learning to stand up for herself against rude service people, beginning to dress better, and of course, buying a dog. But in important ways she learns to accept herself as she is, coming to terms with the fact that she will never be fully French nor will she ever again be fully Australian. Overall it's a sweet read with a few interesting insights into life in Paris.



It's hardly a life-changing book, but it's a good light read. And well, I guess it would be mandatory reading for anyone involved in any kind of long-term relationship with a Frenchman (cough cough B cough cough =P ). Recommended for Francophiles!


TAG: Code Watermelon

Notes from one small island to another...

Notes from a Small Island is a book I was meant to read. Days after I'd picked up a copy at a used bookstore in Pattaya, another copy appeared in a care package from a friend (thanks B!). I figured the most appropriate way to start this book was by taking it to my own small island - Ko Samet. Let me tell you, the islands could not be more different!





Plot
For his last hurrah after spending 8 odd years living in Britain, Bryson decides to take one last trip around the island. Relying heavily on public transportation, he visits big cities and obscure towns.



Motto
Ooooh lovely.




Opinion
Bill Bryson is one of the most hilarious writers I've read... he is simultaneously one of the most boring travelers I could possibly imagine. I alternated between arguing with his outlook on travel & life in general, waiting in vain for the book to get 'interesting', and laughing out loud at his observations of mundane British life. "When the program finished.... Mrs. Smegma came in with a tray of tea things and a plate of biscuits... and everyone stirred friskily to life, rubbing their hands keenly and saying 'ooh, lovely.' To this day, I remain impressed by the ability of Britons of all ages and social backgrounds to get genuinely excited by the prospect of a hot beverage."






The main issue I take with Bryson is his travel philosophy. He has a tendency to pick his travel destinations somewhat whimsically and then gets annoyed when there is limited transportation to these out of the way little towns and villages. He rarely spends more than a day or two in a given place; falling into the bus-backpack-beer-bed trap. He doesn't make much of an effort to interact with the locals. He doesn't eat local specialties, opting for Chinese food more often than not.






He also seems to have a very set idea of what and importantly when a city should look like. He's nostalgic for a charming, cobblestone, Dickensian Britain... one that probably never existed in the first place. He decries the encroachment of chain stores like Boots and Marks & Spencer into old market squares...and turns his nose up at 'tourist' attractions. But then he gets irritated when certain towns close up shop in the evening and he's left without a decent place to get dinner. He never seems to grasp that most cities can not be judged by their value as day trip destinations alone. Some cities are just places for normal people to live and work and have families and watch TV and do their everyday not-all that-charming activities. Most workplaces are not built to be shown off on the pages of Architectural Digest.






As far as his explorations go... he's more than a little ambitious. I couldn't keep track of the number of cities he visited, let alone absorb any meaningful details about any of them. I think to enjoy this book you must have lived or at least traveled extensively in Britain. Then it all becomes one long inside joke. But as an outsider looking in, nothing he says really inspires me to visit any of these places. Which is odd because England and Scotland are on the top of my 'must visit' list.






Despite my issues with Bryson, I nevertheless found myself bursting into laughter almost every time I picked up the book... so clearly, he's doing something right. I think it's his whole understated manner, his amusement at the mundane, and well, his writing style that I like so much. So very much, in fact, that when I went to Ban Phe to trade it in at the secondhand bookstore I picked up Down Under - his book about Australia. But first, perhaps, I should read something a little more exciting. ;)


TAG: Code Watermelon

Worlds Apart

I just finished reading two books that probably couldn't be more different if they'd tried.

First I'm finally getting around to reading all the Jane Austen books that I've seen as movies, most recently Pride and Prejudice. Set in a country neighborhood in regency England, it focuses on the romantic lives of the five Bennet daughters. Major crises involve a scandalous elopement, rejected proposals and misjudgements of characters. Everyone lives happily ever after.

Naturally I followed that up with Enders Game by Orson Scott Card. Set, largely, in outerspace in some unstated time in the future, it focuses on the highly traumatic childhood of one Ender Wiggen, potential savior of mankind. Major crises involve a sadistic older brother bent on ruling the world, interpersonal combat between Ender and other children, and interstellar battles - the outcome of which will determine the future of humanity. A good bit of death & destruction in the final couple chapters.

I have to say... I love both of these books. It's nice to get lost in Jane Austen's world of manners and small town dramas. While I'm glad I didn't actually have to live through that particular time period... it's a fun and romantic place to visit. And as for Ender... the psychological thrill ride is engaging even though this is my third or fourth time reading it.


On my own psychological thrill ride through Thailand, I'm feeling about as far from my life back in the States as I could possibly feel. I miss it, and I feel homesick. But I know that I don't really have a home there anymore. Wherever I go, whatever I do when I'm done here in Thailand... I'll have to start over from scratch. Yeah, I know people in Portland, and obviously I know the city and the language. But I'll need to find a job, a place to live and spend some time and energy rebuilding friendships. I've changed a lot. I'm not going to fit back into the same slot I was in when I left. It's unsettling. I know I shouldn't worry about things like that... cross that bridge when I come to it and all. I can't help it though... worrying about the future is one of those traits that doesn't seem to be changing much. ;)

So I have a question for those of you who have lived abroad... how did you know when it was time to come 'home'... and what were the biggest adjustments you had to make?


TAG: Code Sticky Rice

Endless Summer Reading List

Sorry kids, I keep thinking it's summer. I do most of my reading at the beach so it feels like vacation reading. And fortunately I've had a few opportunities lately to park myself on lounge chair and read so I've got a couple of books to review for you.

Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure by Sarah MacDonald.*

Plot: A journalist quits her day job to join her SO in India, religious exploration ensues.

Motto: Pick a god, any god.

Opinion: I've been toying with the idea of trying to write a book about my experience here in Thailand. I'd been disappointed in the travel-memoirs I'd read and hoped I could give my own spin on what it's like to be abroad. There is no need. MacDonald strikes just the right note of shock, wonder, amusement and annoyance. As an Australian, she has a very western bias / point of view as she explores the different faiths and cultures of India. But I think she does a good job of relaying her observations without too much judgement. Which is not to say she is only an observer, or that she keeps her opinions to herself... it's just that she makes it easy for the reader to follow along and form their own opinions.

One of my biggest complaints about Eat Pray Love was that the author was so self absorbed, I couldn't get out of her head and into what the places she visited were actually like. Holy Cow is not at all like that. I mean, it's a memoir and as such it delves into her thoughts and feelings and spiritual journey, but I didn't feel like I was being dragged into her own personal drama.

Ugh... I'm embarrassed now. I've read two books since finishing Holy Cow and I can't remember enough relevant details to share them with you. She visits a LOT of different gurus and ceremonies, I honestly couldn't keep all the religions straight. One of the festivals she visited was Christian and I really enjoyed seeing the Indian spin on a faith I am already so well acquainted with. Christianity in America isn't nearly sparkly enough IMHO.

Overall, it was an extremely enjoyable read for me, although I didn't warm up to the author until a chapter or two in. She's having the expat experience that I wish I were having, including the loving husband, household staff, expendable cash and the time to enjoy it. I would recommend this book to someone heading abroad, or to someone who needed an arm-chair vacation. Not too heavy, not too fluffy.


The Restaurant at the End of the Universe - Douglas Adams

Plot - The crew from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy continue traveling through space and time, and observe a key moment in the evolution of humankind.

Motto - Intergalactic absurdity at not quite it's finest.

Opinion - I desperately wanted to reread The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, but this was the only Adams book available. It's a poor substitute for the original. It's just more improbability, more insanity, more (but not quite as witty) observations about the human condition etc. In High School I read all four (?) books in sequence so it was just one long silly story... and suited my sense of humor perfectly. But now... and on it's own, this book falls so far short of the original that it's barely worth reading. Recommended - only if you're trying to woo a die-hard Douglas Adams fan or you're stuck in a foreign country with minimal reading material available.


Emma - Jane Austen

Plot: The charming Miss Woodhouse dabbles in matchmaking, formal balls and long winded letters ensue.

Motto: Matchmaker matchmaker make me a match...

Opinion: I love all the Jane Austen movies I've seen. I love the period costumes and the fancy balls. I love the small-scale intrigue and neighborhood drama. But this is only the second Austen book I've actually read. I really enjoyed Sense and Sensibility, but Emma was a bit wordy for my taste. Especially after having seen the movie countless times, it's a bit brutal to have a conversation drag on for page after page when a paragraph or two would have covered it.

The characters are awesome though. Austen has a gift for creating unique and at times ridiculous characters. I love Mr. Elton's sycophantic attempts at wooing Emma, and Miss Bate's endless prattle. And of course, there's always a happy ending. Like every other fan, I wish good ol' Jane was in charge of writing my love life. My hero would have been hiding there under my nose the whole time, silly me, just too blind to see him. Alas....

Overall, I liked it. It's nice to escape to the fantasy world of the English gentry once in a while. I recommend this one to romantic girls who want to ruin any chance at marital bliss by setting up completely unrealistic standards for relationships. Or boys who wish to woo such women. Or, you know anyone stuck in a foreign country with limited access to reading materials.




*This was somewhat serendipitous, I'd almost picked this book up in Portland but was turned off by the cover & the summary on the back (seriously bad marketing!) but I saw it on the book-share table at our hostel in Cambodia (no not the brothel) so I picked it up. I'm glad I gave it a second chance.


TAG - Code Sticky Rice. Everything's fine, I'm still a bit moody, but I'm starting to think about making some changes.

Tender is the Beach

English books are a bit rare here in good ol' Rayong, and all the more cherished because of it. There is a used book shop in Ban Phe near the beach, but as you might imagine, the stock consists mainly of summer vacation books that people brought with them, but don't want to carry back home. There is one table of 'classics' an eclectic mix of Shakespeare and Vonegut and of course a couple copies of Keroak's On the Road (which I still haven't read). Due to this scarcity, you can't be too picky about what you want to read, and we tend to share whatever books we have. And this is how I ended up reading Tender is the Night, one of the books Bunny had brought with her.


Tender is the Night - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Plot: Rich expats flit around Post WWI Europe but can't escape their own internal battles.
Motto: All that glitters is not gold
Opinion:
Hmm... this book is complicated. The beginning was agonizingly slow with entirely too many characters introduced with only the barest of development. It took quite a while before I figured out that Dick and Nicole Diver were the main characters. I simply could not follow what was going on or why. It seemed like just a bunch of shallow snobs and the melodramas of their endless parties. Rosemary was too ridiculous for words.


The middle section got my attention though as it focused more on Dick & Nicole, their history and their secrets. I really started getting invested in them and wanted to know what would happen to them. But then the final section was a bit of a let down, Just when I thought I understood the characters, everything started changing and the whole story went down hill. The ending was...ugh...very unsatisfying in a very realistic way.


I don't know. There is a level on which I can appreciate this as a 'great' book, but I really didn't enjoy it. I don't get Fitzgerald's writing style - too much purple prose for me. Too many cultural references I didn't get. Too much randomness coming out of nowhere (the duel at dawn - why??? the dead body in the hotel room - huh???). The whole book was entirely too long (I could better appreciate The Great Gatsby because it was so short). But I understand that a lot of the book was autobiographical, and I can respect that the 'plot' and characters were kind of messy in the way real life is messy. The most enjoyable thing about reading this book was feeling at least some degree of connection with the characters as I am an expat myself at the moment. That and I read a lot of the beach scenes while I was lying on the beach. Rayong beaches are a far cry from the French Riviera, but you know... I like it when art imitates life however vaguely.


Next up - a reread: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. I was itching to reread The Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe (even though I *just* read it again in like June or something) but again... can't be too picky here!





TAG: Code Watermelon


I miss Powells. =(

Reality bites

TAG - Watermelon

I spent the weekend just relaxing. I took a nap which is actually pretty exciting considering I've been dealing with insomnia for about two years and can count on one hand the number of times I've been able to fall asleep without medication. Yay for sleep!


The Short Aussie gave me his copy of The Alchemist and I finally got a chance to read it. It's the right kind of book for me to read at this point in my life. Basically it's about a young boy learning to follow his personal legend and the costs / rewards of doing so. Some have said it's more of a parable than a novel... but whatever - it got me thinking. The main character talks about learning to understand the unspoken language of the world, the language of the soul, the language of the heart etc. When he talked about listening to his heart I took a minute to be quiet and really listen. And I heard something interesting that went something like "Rebecca needs to be near the ocean."

It was one of those things that's so obvious I can't believe I've gone this long without realizing it. I didn't get a chance to go to the coast before I left Oregon and now I've been in Thailand (world renowned for it's beaches & islands) for over a month and still haven't been to the beach. So now I don't think I really want to stay in Chiang Mai to teach. I'd like to go down south (maybe Rayong... not necessarily a resort town) and see if I can find something there for a while. Chiang Mai will still be here if I don't like it.


So, essentially I spent the weekend reading, sleeping, doing laundry, and trying to figure out what my personal legend is. And now I need to get a job. I also need to sort out my living situation. My one-month's rent is up as of tomorrow. I had planned on staying in my residence for another month while I looked for a job - so I could have just paid up for one more month. But if I'm going to go to Rayong, I don't want to be locked into another month's contract. So I went to the office and said, let me stay on for just a week. Which they'll do. But not in this room. Now I need to pack up all my crap and move. If I'd known that I might have just tried to find a cheaper back-packer place. I guess I still could... but it's at least easier to just drag my stuff down a few floors than it would be to cart it to the other end of the city.


I've made the barest of tip-toes into job search mode. I posted my resume online and emailed a school about a job in Rayong. I've looked at a couple of other jobs in Chiang Mai... but haven't made a serious endeavor yet. I hate this part. In theory there's a teacher shortage in Thailand so I should be able to get a job very easily... but we'll see.


I also need to sort out my transportation needs. I've been getting by just fine on tuk-tuks and songthaews because I'm mainly going between well known landmarks. But as I start looking for jobs, I'm going to need to explore the city a bit more on my own. Which means..... it's time for Rebel to learn to ride a motorbike! I actually went to the shop today to rent one but there was no one available to teach me. I was told to come back tomorrow morning for a lesson. I'm excited, but also terrified. Wish me luck!!



I'm editing this post to share a picture from dinner Friday night. It's not everyone - but you get the idea. =)

Books!

I've seen the book meme on Indigo Mouse & Babbling Brook's blogs and I loved it, so I'm going to share mine, and I hope you do it too. The tough part is sticking to one answer per question... I've got 3 answers for each question, and a few books fit all the categories.

1. One book that made you laugh: David Sedaris Me Talk Pretty One Day, in particular the scene where the students in his French class try to describe Easter cracks me up. "A bell that brings chocolate? That's fucked up."
2. One book that made you cry: I'm with Stacey - Little Women, and hearken back to that same episode of Friends where Rachel has to put the copy of The Shining in the freezer, then Joey starts getting really upset "Beth's really sick!" and Rachel puts Little Women in the freezer for him.
3. One book that you loved as a child: Oh What a Busy Day
4. One book you’ve read more than once: Gone with the Wind - I can't say enough about how incredible this book is. I've read it over and over, I laugh, I cry, I dog ear certain passages to read over and over - it's just an amazing novel.
5. One book you loved, but were embarrassed to admit it: Well, the real answer to this question is a self-help book (or two) that I'm actually too embarrassed to admit! But I guess a fair answer is trashy romance novels. I actually haven't read one in several years, and seriously the plots all start to sound the same after a few. But Saving Grace by Julie Garwood was one I remembered as particularly sweet & at times really funny. There's a scene where the heroine is trying to get those rough highland lads to behave so she starts throwing pottery. I promise it's hilarious
6. One book you hated: The Old Man and the Sea. Good lord I thought I was going to die of boredom reading that book, the longest 100 pages I ever read!
7. One book that scared you: The Stand - I couldn't even finish it. I got part way through and just couldn't deal with it. I've read other Stephen King novels, but this one just really bothered me.
8. One book that bored you: The Old Man and the Sea qualifies for this one, but it was so boring that I absolutely hated it... and I can't think of another book that I felt that strongly about. As far as a book that I found boring, but other people really liked, I did not see the appeal of Wicked. I really didn't like the story at all, I didn't care for the characters and I thought the animal rights thing was a bit heavy handed.
9. One book that made you happy: The Secret Life of Bees - this was another laugh/cry/love books.
10. One book that made you miserable: Kite Runner - OMG! It was so depressing!!!
11. One book that you weren’t brave enough to read: Hmm... I think I'm 'brave' enough to read anything, it's just whether or not it appeals to me at a given time. I'd say maybe I'm not brave enough to read War & Peace ... just because I have this idea that it would be long & boring.
12. One book character you’ve fallen in love with: Oh see, this one fits better in the "book that makes me happy" category, but I can't think of another character I loved this much. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. I absolutely loved the main character, and it was probably the most genuinely uplifting books I've ever read, although I'm not sure many would share that opinion.
13. The last book you read: Learning Teaching
14. The next book you hope to read: My reading for enjoyment is on temporary hiatus... so it's hard to say what I'll be in the mood for when I finally get a chance. Hmmm - I just found out that David Sedaris has a new book out - When You Are Engulfed in Flames... so I guess that's one that I really hope to read soon.

It's funny, since I'll be going abroad indefinitely, I'm kind of in a real life "desert island books" scenario. Aside from the grammar/teaching texts and Thailand guides, I'll be bringing seven books (with more to come later).

You can probably tell by the state of the covers which ones I've read the most.

The Bible - not so much for you know, reading... but I do enjoy quoting scripture at people. ;)
Gone with the Wind - best book ever.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - another one I don't get tired of reading... plus I kinda feel like I'll want a couple "Great American Novels" while I'm abroad.
Me Talk Pretty One Day - I'm gonna need something to make me laugh.
The Secret Life of Bees - This one gives me the warm fuzzies (after making me cry buckets of course).
Then there are two new books, because you know, it could get boring to keep reading the same old books over and over. The Tipping Point & Peace is Every Step.... I've been wanting to read both for a while, and hope that they'll be uplifting / inspiring.

Task Based Reading

Lest you be worried, Rebel has been reading... just nothing especially fun. Everything I've read in the past couple of months has been related to my upcoming adventure in Thailand.

I started out reading both Culture Shock! Thailand (currently out of print) and Culture Smart Thailand. The Culture Shock book was highly recommended on a couple of expat websites I've read. But it's presently out of print - and not set to reissue until later this year or next. So it was a bit of a challenge to track down a copy. When I finally did, it was a copy from the 80s and probably not as helpful as one would hope. Much of the same information was shared in Culture Smart Thailand. Basically both books covered a bit of the history, and some cultural phenomenon like the ubiquitous Thai Smile. Apparently Thai's smile at everything, if they're happy, of course, but also if they are sorry, embarrassed, if they want to defuse a tense situation etc. It's all about keeping harmony and saving face. I feel like both gave me just a taste of what Thailand is like, without going into excessive detail. Thailand is a proud, independent country, the Thai people value an even temper and avoid conflict. This obviously has some pros and cons that I'll need to be aware of while I'm there. Since I knew practically nothing about Thailand before hand, I think they were just the introduction I needed. Of course we'll see how useful the information is once I get there!

Thailand Confidential by Jerry Hopkins .

This was an interesting one, interesting as in “odd” not so much “note worthy”. From the back cover it sounds like this will be a salacious tell all about the seedy underbelly of Thailand. But it’s really really not. I mean, he relays a story about watching a sex-change operation, getting stopped at a drug raid in a bar, riding along with a highway accident corpse pick up crew and more. But he tells it all from the perspective of an old man who’s been there, done that and has the Thai wife to boot. It’s graphic, but not particularly exciting. I picked it up because I wanted to get as balanced a view of Thailand as I could… knowing that the official guide books would paint everything with a rosy hue. And I feel like I got that from this book. The guide books like Culture Smart and Culture Shock talk about religion in Thailand, and the influence of both Buddhism and Animism on the spiritual life of an average Thai. But Hopkins explains that this is why service in a bar came to a halt when the movie “Ghost” was playing on the TV. Apparently, they LOVE ghost stories, and believe in a very real way that the spirits of their loved ones watch over them day to day. So overall, an informative read, especially in conjunction with the other books. But as a collection of short stories… kinda dull.

Learning Teaching by Jim Scrivener

This is a text book, and as such there's not much of a plot... or motto. Scrivener presents a lot of information and methodology about teaching English as a foreign language. He talks about different types of teachers and different types of students, and discusses options in the classroom. When covering each specific area of language, vocabulary, phonology, listening, speaking, or grammar he merely lists various ways to approach the material, giving the pros and cons of each. Basically the teacher is to decide which methods are most appropriate for their given situation. All of that was pretty good.

What I did not like about this book was the format. While the chapters did tend to be organized around particular language skills, there was very little introductory information to get my little brain prepped for what the chapter would cover. And there was no summary at the end to distill the information into memorable chunks. I don't know about you, but the summary sections of a text book are what saved me in High School and College. Sure I did the reading, but it was the summary sections that I studied before an exam. Anything that didn't ring a bell became something I'd go back and review. I was at a bit of a loss trying to remember everything without a summary. Of course, I could have, you know, taken notes and all.... written my own summary of each chapter. But dude! I'm trying to ease into this learning stuff thing. I've been out of college for a good decade now... the neurons need to get warmed up a bit first.

Overall I guess it's a good introduction to learning teaching. I'm far from knowing what I need to in order to step into a classroom... but at least I have been exposed to the topics I'll be studying (and practicing) in more detail in my CELTA course. Learning Teaching will be a good reference for when I'm actually teaching and need ideas for lesson plans... but I'm hoping the next teaching book I'm going to read (How to Teach English by Jeremy Harmer) will do a better job of helping me get the information into my brain.

So that's what I've been reading. I really hope that they've helped my brain get ready for moving. I miss reading books for fun though.

The Audacity of Rebel's Book Club

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything about the books I’ve been reading… and I have actually been reading. I don’t know how much you folks get out of reading my highly opinionated and minimally educated reviews, but I like going back and refreshing my memory on books I’ve read. I hate it when someone mentions a book I read and I can’t even remember if I liked it or not. So here goes.

The Audacity of Hope, Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream – Barack Obama

Plot: The country is broken, and it really doesn’t have to be.

Motto: Yes we can.

Opinion: The book reads like Obama’s manifesto, and is very clearly a campaign tool, but nonetheless it is a very interesting read about the challenges facing America and the ways in which we can approach them as a country, rather than as opposite sides of a political battle.

I read this one back in March I think. Unfortunately, I've now waited entirely too long to write up this review and I can’t remember enough specifics about it to go into any detail. But I will tell you this- I get bored really easily when talking about government & politics ... but when I read this book I was engaged, and I intend to read it again so I can more fully understand some of his points. Obama is a very good author, his style is clear and focused without over-simplifying anything...I'm putting Dreams from my Father on my 'to read' list too, regardless of how the election turns out.

Sense & Sensibility – Jane Austin

Plot: Girls get the boys, girls lose the boys, girls get get the boys!

Motto: Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters…

Opinion: I liked it, but I liked the movie better.

It took a while for me to get into reading Austin’s style of writing, some of her turns of phrase are just not used any more. Having seen the movie (with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet) helped me follow the plot a lot better than I might have otherwise. But on the other hand, having seen the movie SEVERAL times, I couldn’t read the dialogues without hearing Thompson or Winslet’s voice.

There’s a reason this is a classic though. Austin develops her characters so fully, and you can really see the change in Marianne and Elinor as the story progresses. Both of the Miss Dashwoods have their flaws as well as graces. I appreciated seeing glimpses of Elinor’s selfish and emotional sides in light of her mature, responsible exterior. Also, in the book Willoughby is much more of a scoundrel, although he does get a chance to explain himself.

I really enjoyed the book, but I probably would not have liked it as well as I did if I had not seen the movie first. The movie is so well acted, with certain exchanges emphasised so much by tone of voice and significant glances. So my recommendation is that if you’ve seen the movie, read the book. If you’ve read the book first however, they’ve chopped a good bit out for the movie… so I’m not sure the recommendation would go both ways.

A Walk in the Woods – Bill Bryson

Plot: Two out of shape, middle aged men attempt to walk the Appalachian Trail.

Motto: Are we there yet?

Opinion: This is the second Bill Bryson book I’ve read, and I really like his style. He’s funny, factual, thoughtful, and tends to use a chatty style of writing that pulls the reader into the story.

Bryson starts out his adventure with lots of intellectual and material preparation, sharing with the reader a bit of history about the 2,100 mile stretch of trail running from Georgia to Maine. His college buddy Katz is somewhat less prepared. Although they do not walk the entire trail, they get a good feel for what life is like on the trail. There are lots of trees, for example, lots and lots and lots and lots of trees. And there are people along the trail, helpful kind people, and of course unusual and annoying people as well. Bryson does an awesome job of describing the people so colorfully that you can just about see them walking along the trail. You can also just about hear the sound of bears sneaking around somewhere out there on the trail with him!

The book takes a few somber turns when talking about the environmental degradation that has taken place along the Appalachians, and the state of the Parks Services tasked with taking care of the trail. But he’s not out to make a statement about it. If he has a statement at all, it’s that the reader should spend some time out exploring the natural world around them. Advice I intend to follow this summer after I stop working.

I’d recommend this book as a good vacation read, or a getting ready for vacation read. It’s not too heavy, but not pure fluff either, and parts are genuinely funny. I’ll be putting his other books on my ‘to read’ list ... but I’m in no hurry.

Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire – Rafe Esquith

Plot: Hardworking, self sacrificing teacher brings out the best in his poor, mostly immigrant students.

Motto: High expectations + lots of work = lifelong success.

Opinion: This is a very inspirational and impressive story. But rather than making me feel hopeful about what kids can accomplish, it made me feel sad that he had to give so very much of himself to make a difference. It also makes me a little sad that I didn’t have a teacher like him when I was in school. Not that I’m bashing my education, I had a lot of really good teachers, it’s just that I got the impression, while reading this book, that so much more is possible. Like… this is the man who could have taught me math!!

Esquith is clearly a man on a mission. He is passionate about upholding high standards for both himself and his students. He teaches academic subjects (not just science, math & reading, but also art, music, athletics, and theater) as well as life skills. And the whole time he is swimming against the stream of standardized testing, ineffective school administration, and ongoing cuts in funding.

The book starts out by describing Kohlberg's Six Stages of Moral Development.

He challenges his students to be level six thinkers. I have to admit, I spend a lot of time in levels 1 (what's in it for me) and 4 (rules are rules) right now… and if nothing else, am glad I read this book so I can start incorporating, or attempting to incorporate, more level six thinking in my life.

I highly recommend this book to teachers and parents. It’s unrealistic to expect other teachers to perform the kind of magic in their classrooms that Esquith does (I don’t want to diminish the amount of effort he puts into his classroom, but really, the man has a gift) but he presents some very practical ideas that could be used by anyone.

So those are the books I've most recently read. I'm currently diving into some books about Thailand and teaching abroad, in fact I'm on the last few pages of The Bangkok Survivor's Handbook. I should probably write up a review of that one before I start in on the next book. Any good recommendations for me?

Get yer freak on!

Candy-Freak that is. ;)

Candyfreak by Steve Almond was a very nice literary palette cleanser after the trauma of that last book.

First, some background:
Back in November I went to Wordstock, Portland’s enormous book festival (god I love this town!). While there I stopped at a few of the stages and listened to various authors read from their books. Steve Almond was reading from his newest book Not That You Asked, and he had us laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. When he was done I went to get the book but so did everyone else. I figured I’d skip the line & pick up the book later. If I wrote down the name of the book, I lost the note. Later I found myself in Powell’s having a conversation that went something like this.

World’s most patient man: “Can I help you?”
Me: “Um… Did you go to Wordstock? I’m looking for this book by this guy who was there.”
“I didn’t get a chance to go this year – do you remember the name of the book?”
“Um… no… but I think the author’s name is Dave or John or something.”
“Do you remember his last name?”
“Um… no…but I just remember he was at the Border’s stage.”
At this point the world’s most patient man is googling “Wordstock” to see if he can find a schedule. “Which day was it?” (Wordstock is a 4 day book festival!)
“Um… I think it was the weekend…. you know… never mind. I’m sorry.”
“Well, they’ve got a schedule online if you want to look at it.”
I glance at the schedule… there are about a million and a half speakers listed.
“I’m sorry; I’ll just go home & see if I can figure it out.”
“Ok – good luck!”

All I have to say about that is - SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORES PEOPLE!! You can bet your sweet bippy you wouldn’t get service like that at Wal-Mart.

ANYWAY I did some Google-fu and was able to figure out who it was but promptly went on to reading other books. As I was strolling through Goodwill picking up some used books I happened to see Candyfreak just sitting there on the shelf. I picked it up for $4 – not bad.


On to my highly opinionated and minimally educated book review.

Warning: Anyone concerned about their weight or blood sugar should *not* read this book. Everyone else should make sure they have a few of their favorite candy bars on hand while reading.

Plot: Mr. Almond (who is quite aware of the appropriateness of his last name), a self-described ‘candy freak’ rhapsodizes about his favorite candy bars and tours a few of the remaining small-scale regional candy factories in America.

Motto: Life is like a box of chocolates.

Opinion: The first half of this book is hilarious and borderline pornographic in it’s detailed descriptions of the author’s favorite candy bars. He loves candy. I mean he loves candy! He’s refreshingly unashamed of his sweet tooth and really knows how to let his freak flag fly. We start with a brief history of the candy bar and a review of the varieties of candies that have been available in different regions of the US - Necco Wafers, Goo Goo Clusters, Idaho Spuds. From there he actually visits the candy factories and gives us an insider’s view of how each component of a candy bar is created & compiled into the finished products we enjoy. It’s a bit like a real-life Charlie & the Chocolate Factory & a lot of fun to read.

In the second half of the book, however, his mood turns morose as he reflects on the economic power of the big three candy companies and how they have forced many local candy manufacturers out of the business. He also does more than a little navel-gazing and musing about his own life… and frankly that part is boring. But it’s a short book, with a relatively upbeat ending.

Recommendation: Borrow this book from the library (or me) and read the first half with a pile of your favorite candies nearby. Mmmmmmm…chocolate!

Singles Awareness & Appreciation Day (also book club take 2)

Today is, as I'm sure you know, Singles Awareness & Appreciation Day (SAAD), one of my favorite holidays of the year! As per usual I will be celebrating by listening to the Alanis Morrisette's Jagged Little Pill album and eating lots of chocolate cake. Be sure to remember your favorite single people by sending flowers, or as is more typical, just sending cash. ;)

Thanks for all your comments regarding the bizzaro book club I went to on Tuesday. As I've mentioned (about four hundred times now) it was the Everybody Reads book and as such, there was another book club at a different library on Wednesday. I went and kept an eye out for any professional 'facilitators'. This book club was at the Belmont Library deep in the heart of the People's Republic of Southeast Portland and could not have been more different. The librarian started out by having everyone introduce themselves and immediately asked if anyone had participated in any of the other activities related to this book that are going on around town. And from there... surprise surprise, people talked! About the book!! It was great.

We discussed the horrors that the boy soldiers are subjected to, and how similar attrocities are occuring throughout the world. One woman shared her experience of teaching young refugees who had lost arms & hands in the fighting. And older gentleman made comparisons to the style of fighting that took place in Vietnam. Another gentleman brought up the mineral trade (and exploitation there of) as one of the root causes of global conflict. We discussed the similarities between the indoctrination described in the book and the "training" that takes place at Parris Island (where my nephew just went through boot camp). The human capacity for both good an evil was a continuous theme in our discussion. Basically we talked about the book, we talked about life, lots of different opinions were shared and everyone got a chance to say something. It was wonderful. My faith in book clubs is restored. =)

When Book Club Goes Bad

Oh man. OH MAN!!! Tonight’s book club was something else. Because this was the Everybody Reads book group, the library brought in an ‘expert’ to facilitate our discussion. You know it’s going to get interesting when they bring in an ‘expert.’ Last year’s expert wanted to bring in all kinds of sociological theories but the discussion group pretty much shut her down and to her credit she mostly sat back and let us discuss the book which is what one would expect in a book group. This gal… oh man.

She starts out by introducing herself. She’s about as American as they come yet she pronounced her name with as much French inflection as she could. That kind of thing annoys me… but I was still willing to give her a chance. But then she went into a fifteen minute lecture on post-modern literary theory (she’s a Professor at PSU). The book is just an artifact, it has no meaning, it’s just squiggles of ink on pressed wood-pulp. Which of course begs the question of why the hell we’re there to discuss it if there’s no meaning to it at all. But I patiently waited and listened as she went on to talk about the three types of questions we’re allowed to ask of the book, fact based questions, interpretation questions (as the only meaning the book has is our interpretations of it), and value questions - was the book good or bad (but then she immediately states that this is the most useless kind of question).

Oh man. She just went on and on. Then right when I thought we might actually get to discuss the book she feels the need to point out that although it’s called a “memoir” we really shouldn’t treat it as “fact” that the only truth is that which we bring to it, etc etc etc… that the literature professors of the world would like to eliminate the distinction between fiction & nonfiction. And that when we learn to treat all books as constructs we won’t be as likely to be "duped" by memoirs that turn out to be fabricated. OH MAN!!

So *finally* about twenty minutes into the hour discussion, someone other than the ‘facilitator’ gets to ask a question. A fellow discusser comments that she didn’t feel a very strong emotional connection to the book and asks for some clarifications about the family situation. I answer her question about the family and agree that I didn’t feel that much of an emotional connection to the author either. At which point the facilitator corrects me by saying “This character the author created.” I have never wanted so much to hurl a book across the room at someone as I did in that moment. Instead I gathered myself and very patiently said that “In my interpretation of the book, I’m choosing to believe that the author *is* the character he is writing about in his memoir.” To which she further enlightened me by pointing out that “Saying something is ‘made up’ has such a negative connotation, but it really doesn’t need to.” OH MAN!!!!

The rest of the ‘discussion’ followed much the same vein. People attempted to discuss the book and the facilitator interrupted us, corrected our naïve and uneducated ‘interpretations’ of the story, and periodically brought up the fact that books portraying wars in Western Africa are merely feeding into our society’s innate racism. Oh man. It’s possible I was imagining the sigh of relief I heard when the librarian came in and told us it was time to wrap things up. But as we were filing out of the library it was clear that I was not the only one who had a problem with our facilitator. I had to reassure a first time visitor that typically it’s just one of the lowly community members (not a licensed, bonded facilitator) who leads the discussion and that lacking a Ph.D. in literature, we usually just let everyone you know… discuss the book.

Oh well. There’s always next month.

a long way gone

Time for another highly opinionated and minimally educated book review.

My High School friends have begun to suspect I haven't told them the full story of my life.

"Why did you leave Sierra Leone?"

"Because there is a war."

"Did you witness some of the fighting"

"Everyone in the country did."

"You mean you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?"

"Yes, all the time"

"Cool."

I smile a little.

"You should tell us about it sometime."

"Yes, sometime."

These are the opening words of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah, Multnomah County's Everybody Reads book for 2008. This is one of those books that people safe in the US should be obligated to read. Particularly anyone who's been griping about their comparatively comfortable & trouble free life (moi? non).

Plot: The story is pretty basic, although excruciatingly detailed. Beah and some school friends walk to another town one day, only to run right into the chaos of civil war fighting. When they return to their villiage their familes have fled as have the rest of their neighbors. The first section of the book details the children's attempt to avoid the fighting while wandering towards a safer area. The next section details Beah's conscription into the national army, his experiences fighting and killing rebels and villagers. Finally the book covers Beah's rescue & rehabillitation and eventual reintegration into society and family life.

Motto: All of those young lives betrayed...

Opinion: Personal reactions only, I had a nightmare about this book when I was only a few chapters in. The idea of the children (I believe they were only 10-11 when first separated from their families) wandering around in the jungle, cold tired, scared and hungry... so hungry... it's just intolerable for someone as warm, comfortable and well fed as I. As bad as I felt for the author and his friends, it only got worse from there.

Beah is unflinching in his descriptions of his experience in the army. In particular he talks about doing drugs and watching Rambo movies with fellow soldiers then reenacting the scenes in their next attack. He talks of looking a man in the eye before slitting his throat... he was not more than 15. It's intense. Honestly I considered not finishing the book. I set it down for a couple of days and really thought about if I could continue reading it. Ultimately I decided that I wanted to honor this boy's experience by finishing his memoir. If he could live through the experience, I could live through reading about it.

Fortunately shortly after I started reading again the story progressed to his rescue and rehabilitation in a UN sponsored center for boys. It's a long process, but eventually he begins to heal and reclaim a bit of his childhood. Extended family members are located and Beah is welcomed with open arms. At this point the author begins speaking on behalf of children affected by the war, and is chosen to represent Sierra Leone in a UN workshop on the state of children in the world in New York. He comes back home, and just when you think it's time to live happily ever after, the civil war reaches the city where he is now living, and the rebels overthrow the government. All is not completely lost...although the memoir is left somewhat open ended, he does escape Sierra Leone, and eventually returns to New York where he now lives.

For as important as I feel this book is, I don't think it was especially well written. It's detailed, but emotionally detached. That might be a defense mechanism for the author... I mean, he lived through these horrors and I can't imagine what it must be like to have to relive it in writing the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to read more about the plight of child-soldiers around the world, but reader beware, it's graphic, it's disturbing and it's true.

I'll be going to the book club discussion Tuesday night and it should prove to be very interesting indeed.

As this book took a lot of effort to finish, the next book I'll be reading is Candy Freak by Steve Almond. I don't anticipate any nightmares from this one.

The Pretty Good Gatsby

As usual, my review of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby will be highly opinionated and minimally educated. ;)

Plot: Loud parties, fast cars, blatant infidelity, homicide, murder…all in under 200 pages.
Motto: Having it all means nothing at all.

Opinion:
I think the biggest strength of this book is its brevity.* Which is not to say I didn’t like it. But I think Fitzgerald does a good job of getting all his plot points & character development out without dragging on unnecessarily. His prose is rather more florid than I generally like, and I’m not particularly interested in the Jazz era, so most of the literary merit is lost on me. I really couldn’t see why this book is considered the quintessential Great American Novel. In my book both Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn and Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind are far superior books… but this post is not about those books.

The characters are well developed, considering the point was that they were shallow, self absorbed, and amoral. I’m all for giving your characters flaws, that’s human, but they lack pretty much any redeeming qualities. Nick is the ‘innocent bystander’ but the only noble (for lack of a better word) thing he does in the whole book is to take care of the funeral arrangements at the end. Tom is a stereotype, the brash, racist, two timing jock – just past his glory days. Jordan is also rich, spoiled, bored, and well, a liar… but beautiful, so that makes it all better. I dislike Daisy the most I think. Not so much because she married Tom rather than wait for Gatsby to come home from the war (although that did not endear her to me), but for her indecision. She loves Gatsby… until he’s been gone too long, then she loves Tom… until Gatsby comes back, then she wants to be with him… but she doesn’t really want to leave Tom because she still kinda sorta loves him. I most empathize with Jay Gatsby, as I’ve carried more than one torch for someone much much longer than would be considered healthy. But even I know when to give up the ghost – namely when the object of your affections gets married and has kids. Time to move on! Furthermore, if you have to sell your soul to be considered worthy by the person you love, you’ve got to ask yourself if they’re worthy of the sacrifice… and nothing about Daisy indicates that she is. As I’m sure it was Fitzgerald’s intention that these be unlikable characters, I give him full marks on that score.

One of the reasons this book has been called a Great American Novel is that it is a window into life in the Jazz Age. And I’m sure it is… to some degree. It could be argued, though, that the life of the young, rich, beautiful New Yorkers is not necessarily representative of life in general at that time. But it is interesting to think of this as the calm between the storms of two world wars. I found the descriptions of the parties to be insightful (and timeless); start with hordes of shallow strangers, add alcohol, turn up the music and everyone’s having a great time! No one really knows anyone, no one knows anything about the host, and no one cares at all. My favorite line is when Jordan says

“And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.”

I think it just points out the lack of genuine intimacy in their lives.

Overall, I think this was a very good book, far from my favorite, but absolutely worth a read. There’s a lot of food for thought in this very short book. On Jenn’s advice though, I don’t think I’ll read The Beautiful and the Damned.

*The other thing I love about this book is the author’s name F. Scott Fitzgerald, he gets points not only for having a three-name name, which is cool in and of itself (Mario Vargas Llosa is another one I like) but for using a single bold initial as his first name, and also for having a ‘z’ in his last name. Pretty awesome. Tons better than Herman Melville… what kind of a name is that??

I know why the good earth sings

It's time for Everybody Reads 2008!

Unfortunately, not everyone saves. =( I started a nice long post in Word, but neglected to save it and my computer decided to teach me a lesson. Oh well. Preferences are now set to auto save every few minutes.

I haven’t been keeping up with my Rebel’s Book Club reports lately, so here’s a quick catch up.

The Lathe of Heaven – Ursula K. LeGuin
Motto: You’ll never believe the dream I had last night!
Plot: Average Joe changes the world in his sleep. High minded researcher decides to use this power to save the world.

Opinion: I loved this book, not in the least because it was set in my very own Portland, OR. It’s also one of my favorite kinds of sci-fi books, about the far distant future… roughly the year 2002. It’s always fun to see how the author’s predictions compare to reality. LeGuin does okay. She predicts that Mt. Hood will erupt… which it hasn’t… yet… but Mt. St. Helens did, and she predicts that the US is involved in a war in the Middle East (although to be fair… it seems like we’re always involved in a war in the Middle East). She overestimates the population of Portland, but more or less correctly describes the Max (our light rail system). All of that is really fun to read about, and I got a huge kick out of knowing where the action was occurring, in fact, fairly significant portions of the story take place at the Medical School… which is where I work.

"George Orr's apartment was on the top floor of an old frame house a few blocks
up the hill on Corbett Avenue, a shabby part of town where most of the houses
were getting on for a century, or well beyond it."

Dr. Haber's institute would be somewhere in here.

As for the actual story… it’s very trippy. The world keeps changing, but certain elements remain the same. There’s also the theme of ‘be careful what you wish for – you might get it’, and how one defines sanity in an insane world. It’s just really trippy, really cool. I may have to read it again to really get into the psychology / philosophy of it. But it’s worth a read if you’re into science fiction, or live in Portland. ;)


Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot’s Guide to the Land of Knitting.
Motto: When knitters take over the world…
Plot: Um.. it’s all there in the title.

Opinion: This isn’t the Yarn Harlot’s best work, and I wasn’t going to buy it, but I started flipping through it at the store and found myself laughing out loud so I caved. I know not everyone loves the Harlot, and I can see why, but I love her if for no other reason than that her obsession with knitting makes me look normal by comparison. I’m not going to recommend that anyone go out and buy this book – but you can borrow my copy if you’re interested.


The Good Earth – Pearl S. Buck
Motto: A man must work from sun to sun, but a woman’s work is never done.
Plot: Wang Lung, a young farmer in China, gets married, works hard, lives long & prospers.

Opinion: This is such a simple story, but so beautiful. Wang Lung is so human. He is a good man, hard working, but flawed. His wife Olan is selfless, and so strong in her own way. We see the full circle of their life, for richer for poorer, in sickness and health. Buck portrays it all with an unvarnished honesty, which makes it all the more beautiful. There’s a reason this one is a classic.


I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou
Motto: Black is Beautiful
Plot: An autobiography that takes us from rural Arkansas in the 1930s to San Francisco during World War II.

Opinion: Nothing I can say will do justice to this book. Angelou has a gift. I don’t know how she managed to come through the tragedies and injustices of her life with such grace and strength and beauty. But she did. She says:

“The Black female is assaulted in her tender years by all those common forces of
nature at the same time that she is caught in the tripartite crossfire of
masculine prejudice, white illogical hate and Black lack of power. The
fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is
often met with amazement, distaste and even belligerence. It is seldom
accepted as an inevitable outcome of the struggle won by survivors and deserves
respect if not enthusiastic acceptance.”

Well, she gets my respect and enthusiastic acceptance. But I don’t think she gives herself enough credit for how amazing she really is. The strength and openness that she has is *not* an inevitable outcome of her struggle. I think very few people can live through what she’s lived through and emerge with such grace and dignity and love. Lots of people fall apart, lots of people become hard-hearted, lots of people just give up. I don’t know how she does it, but she’s one of my heros now. Read this book to feel inspired.


Now onto my to-read list for 2008.

The first book on my list is “a long way gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier” by Ishmael Beah. This is the Everybody Reads book for Portland this year, which is good because it’s one I’ve heard a lot about and have been wanting to read & I got it for free =) (have I mentioned how much I love this town!). I expect it will be a bit hard to get through, but hopefully it won’t be a complete downer.

After that, in no particular order:

The Audacity of Hope – Barack Obama
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Harriet Beecher Stowe
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Catch-22 – Joseph Heller (I bought this a while ago with the intention of re-reading it, but never did. I just need to plow through the first 8 chapters, after that I remember it gets really good)
A Walk in the Woods – Bill Bryson

I'm looking into suggested books: Persuasion, Anna Karenina, Tender is the Night, The Beautiful & Damned, Of Love & Other Demons, and Pride & Prejudice. But haven't picked any of them up yet.


And the autobiographies… MLK, Ghandi, Nelson Mandela; these have been on my shelf since Bush was “reelected” and I keep meaning to read them. Perhaps I can get through them if I bribe myself with something fun to read afterwards… any suggestions for fun, light or humorous books? I like fiction & non-fiction, science fiction, some chick-lit, any genre really, if it's good.

Oh... and are any of you on Shelfari? It's a networking site for bibliophiles, you put all your books on a virtual book shelf, leave reviews, read reviews and chat about book-related topics. Knitty folk - it's like Ravelry but for books, and actually I've been spending more time on Shelfari than I have on Ravelry lately.

Complete and Unabridged

I drove out to knit night tonight, only to find that the yarn shop was closed for inventory, which of course makes sense considering that last Saturday was the pre-inventory sale. D'oh! Ooohh... and I don't think I've posted my goodies yet - another post.

But since I was out & about anyway I decided to go to another favorite shop in southeast - Powells on Hawthorne! I've just finished up reading Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth and Stephanie Pearl McPhee Casts Off by the beloved Yarn Harlot and was feeling a bit bereft of reading material. I found myself picking up a number of books from the sale table... see if you can spot a trend:

Sense & Sensibility - Jane Austen
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Uncle Tom's Cabin - Uncle Tom's Cabin

I'm calling it the "Books I didn't read or didn't appreciate back in high school... but am willing to give another shot" reading list (and yes M5K - I'm stealing your idea ;) -what book are you reading anyway?). Actually, the only ones I haven't already read are Sense & Sensibility (although I watch the DVD with Emma Thompson regularly), and Uncle Tom's Cabin (which I know only from the interpretive dance scene in The King & I). The others I read and have vague memories of not hating back in high school... but that's about all I remember. Any other suggestions of books I should read or reread now that I'm... mature*... enough to understand them?

Actually, I am currently reading Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. This is my second time trying to get through it, she's a bit more poetic than I generally like. But I admire her a great deal as a person, so I feel like I should actually read her work. Anyway - that's the first book on my list. But after that I'll start in on the "Books I didn't read or didn't appreciate back in high school." reading list. Care to join me?



*old & boring

Speaking of books...

Not only is Portland a knitter's nirvana; it's heaven for bibliophiles. Not only do we have Powells, the largest independent bookstore in the country, but we also have Wordstock, an annual festival of books. It's awesome!




There are several stages where you can listen to authors read from their work, or talk about writing. And of course there are booths for bookstores and publishers. I discovered (much in the way that Columbus discovered America) a cool cartoon called "Too Much Coffee Man", and listened to Steven Almond talk about meeting Kurt Vonnegut and recount a hillarious story of young love at summer camp.




It was fun, and you know I didn't get out of there empty handed. I really wanted to get Almond's book "Not that you asked", but the line was too long, so I'll pick that up next time I go to Powells. But I did get the sequel to "The Dangerous Book for Boys" (which I gave to my nephew last year).








Andrea Buchanan & Miriam Peskowitz's "The Daring Book for Girls" will make a great gift for my niece... after I read it of course. ;)

I also picked up Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods", and Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma". I kinda feel like I should have picked up a book or two from the local authors represented there. But I don't know. There are just so many books out there, and those were a couple I've been meaning to read for a while now. Plus I like to read books that other peole have likely read so I can talk to them about it. So yeah... Wordstock, pretty awesome. Have I mentioned how much I love Portland.