So...about 15 minutes ago I finished my 43rd book for the year.
Now what?
I've been sitting at the computer, staring at the blank screen wondering, "Well. So that's done. I don't know what to do next."
Let me tell you, there were times this year that I thought I wouldn't finish the challenge at all, let alone finish on time. And while I'm at it, I didn't think I would finish with two full months left in the year!
Sometimes, the more I read, especially reading amazing well written books, the more I want to read. Sometimes the exact and perfect opposite happens. But even when I'm reading a badly written book, I want to read more.
And so, even though my challenge is officially over, I'll keep reading. Part of me wants to be able to add them on to next year's challenge...but I won't. Promise.
Know what else I'm going to promise you? I'm going to catch up on my reviews from this year. And maybe make a reading plan for next year that I will actually stick to. That would be a miracle, wouldn't it?
(And now since I've officially finished my reading goal, I have less guilt about NOT finishing Daughter of Fortune. Which is really good because it has been staring at me from my bookshelf at home, begging me to pick it up again. I had to turn it upside down to make it stop. Ugh.)
Currently reading: A Treacherous Paradise
Showing posts with label 2013. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2013. Show all posts
27 October 2013
19 April 2013
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
I had seen The Paris Wife advertised all over the place last month and after a year of saying, "I really want to read that!" I decided to give it a go.
Now I'm not going to say it was as bad a Juliette, but I will not be recommending this book to anyone. Ever.
I was excited to read this book because it is about the first wife of Ernest Hemingway. Even if most of the story is fiction, I like reading about the lives of writers. No matter how much you read in biographies, or even autobiographies, there is something really fascinating in seeing another writer put the famous person in question into real life situations. I am a huge C. S. Lewis fan and have read his autobiography many times. There is still something, possibly magical, about seeing Anthony Hopkins portray Jack on screen that makes me all giddy inside.
I am not huge into Hemingway history. I've read a bit of his work for school and after watching In Love and War, I read A Farewell to Arms. Well, I started reading A Farewell to Arms. (Though after Pat's reaction to the book in Silver Linings Playbook, maybe it's good that I didn't finish it.) I can't say that I'm an expert on his life. Maybe if I was more of one, I would have found this book more interesting.
I found it intriguing at all because it's about the woman behind the man. Well, the first woman behind the man. Also, it's Paris in the 20s.Talk abut the golden age of writing! (And as another side note, I watched Midnight in Paris shortly after finishing this book. So good! I loved it! Part of it really resonated because of what I had read about other writers of the time. Also, Tom Hiddleston was F.Scott Fitzgerald. So. Yeah...)
Hadley Richardson is twenty eight and practically an old spinster by the time she meets Ernest Hemingway. They fall deeply in love and are married less than a year after they meet. Their relationship is tempestuous; Hemingway is a man who is first married to his work and married to Hadley second. Or, as time goes by, maybe not even to her.
Like I said, it was interesting. But...it was a difficult read. It wasn't really about Hemingway; it was about Hadley. It was how she dealt with things, her emotions and her interpretation of their relationship. And as silly as this is, it was hard to follow because they used so many nicknames. Nicknames for Ernest and Hadley changed all the time and at one point they use the same nickname for each other! It is really difficult for me to keep track of the characters. There wasn't a whole lot of dialogue in this book. It was an interesting concept, but not a terribly compelling read.
My go to book about authors & romance is, you guessed it, Possession by A. S. Byatt. I'll keep my eye out for other fictionalized accounts of real life authors, though. Do you have a favorite almost-true novel?
Now I'm not going to say it was as bad a Juliette, but I will not be recommending this book to anyone. Ever.
I was excited to read this book because it is about the first wife of Ernest Hemingway. Even if most of the story is fiction, I like reading about the lives of writers. No matter how much you read in biographies, or even autobiographies, there is something really fascinating in seeing another writer put the famous person in question into real life situations. I am a huge C. S. Lewis fan and have read his autobiography many times. There is still something, possibly magical, about seeing Anthony Hopkins portray Jack on screen that makes me all giddy inside.
I am not huge into Hemingway history. I've read a bit of his work for school and after watching In Love and War, I read A Farewell to Arms. Well, I started reading A Farewell to Arms. (Though after Pat's reaction to the book in Silver Linings Playbook, maybe it's good that I didn't finish it.) I can't say that I'm an expert on his life. Maybe if I was more of one, I would have found this book more interesting.
I found it intriguing at all because it's about the woman behind the man. Well, the first woman behind the man. Also, it's Paris in the 20s.Talk abut the golden age of writing! (And as another side note, I watched Midnight in Paris shortly after finishing this book. So good! I loved it! Part of it really resonated because of what I had read about other writers of the time. Also, Tom Hiddleston was F.Scott Fitzgerald. So. Yeah...)
Hadley Richardson is twenty eight and practically an old spinster by the time she meets Ernest Hemingway. They fall deeply in love and are married less than a year after they meet. Their relationship is tempestuous; Hemingway is a man who is first married to his work and married to Hadley second. Or, as time goes by, maybe not even to her.
Like I said, it was interesting. But...it was a difficult read. It wasn't really about Hemingway; it was about Hadley. It was how she dealt with things, her emotions and her interpretation of their relationship. And as silly as this is, it was hard to follow because they used so many nicknames. Nicknames for Ernest and Hadley changed all the time and at one point they use the same nickname for each other! It is really difficult for me to keep track of the characters. There wasn't a whole lot of dialogue in this book. It was an interesting concept, but not a terribly compelling read.
My go to book about authors & romance is, you guessed it, Possession by A. S. Byatt. I'll keep my eye out for other fictionalized accounts of real life authors, though. Do you have a favorite almost-true novel?
05 April 2013
Looking for Alaska
before
Somewhere between my sobs over the Lizzie Bennet Diaries ending and tumblr exploding with feels, I found John Green.
That isn't entirely true, but it's true enough for this story.
His newest book, The Fault in our Stars, had just come out and the interwebs were full of everything tfios, LBD and John Green.
Fine I said. Fine. Let me find out for myself what this John Green fellow is all about. I took home Looking for Alaska and my life changed.
after
I hate you, John Green. But. Of course when I say "I hate you" what I really mean is "thank you." Thank you for putting love, hate, pain, forgiveness, hilarity, the good, the bad and the horribly ugly, and gut wrenching grief into understandable words. Sometimes those emotions (love, hate, grief, etc) can only be expressed with smiles that break your face, clenched fists or silent tears down your face. Somehow (I think magic was involved, you Hufflepuff) you were able to translate the truth of messy emotion.
I read Looking for Alaska like I would any other young adult novel. Just picked it up and dove in. I loved it. Loved it. The characters, the antics, the school, the pranks. Miles Halter doesn't fit in. Anywhere. He has zero friends at his school and he finally decided to do something about it. He decides to enroll in the boarding school his father went to and sets off to search for the Great Perhaps. Even if he's not so sure what that entails, it is what he has decided to do. Shortly after arriving at Culver Creek Boarding School, he meets his roommate, gets a nickname and falls in love. Hard. Her name is Alaska Young and she is a force to be reckoned with.
I loved it so much that I paid no attention to the days that were passing or the pages that brought me closer to "After." When I finally came to "After" my days caught up with me. And I cried. I cried so hard I had to close the book and just exist with my tears. I couldn't read it for days after that. I was too afraid that the words would pick at the scar my pain had left, reopening something I was trying to let heal. Maybe not quite a week later I thought it would be okay to pick it up again. It wasn't. But even through the pain and the tears I was reminded why it was all okay.Because, as C. S. Lewis said, we read to know we are not alone. Someone else understood the pain of loss. Someone else knew what it was like to realize your memory of a person was fading, and that that realization brought a completely different wave of grief.
Sorry for the overly emotional response to this book. Even if I hadn't been dealing with something personal, this book still would have struck a chord with my emotions. It's not just the content; it's the style. John Green has an incredible storytelling gift. He has a certain way of drawing you in through fiction, connecting with you on a real level and then releases you with words of wisdom that you realize aren't just for the story; they are for you, the reader, to take home with you and think about. Find truth in and incorporate into the way you view life. Just like the gem he left at the end of Looking for Alaska: The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive.
Somewhere between my sobs over the Lizzie Bennet Diaries ending and tumblr exploding with feels, I found John Green.
That isn't entirely true, but it's true enough for this story.
His newest book, The Fault in our Stars, had just come out and the interwebs were full of everything tfios, LBD and John Green.
Fine I said. Fine. Let me find out for myself what this John Green fellow is all about. I took home Looking for Alaska and my life changed.
after
I hate you, John Green. But. Of course when I say "I hate you" what I really mean is "thank you." Thank you for putting love, hate, pain, forgiveness, hilarity, the good, the bad and the horribly ugly, and gut wrenching grief into understandable words. Sometimes those emotions (love, hate, grief, etc) can only be expressed with smiles that break your face, clenched fists or silent tears down your face. Somehow (I think magic was involved, you Hufflepuff) you were able to translate the truth of messy emotion.
I read Looking for Alaska like I would any other young adult novel. Just picked it up and dove in. I loved it. Loved it. The characters, the antics, the school, the pranks. Miles Halter doesn't fit in. Anywhere. He has zero friends at his school and he finally decided to do something about it. He decides to enroll in the boarding school his father went to and sets off to search for the Great Perhaps. Even if he's not so sure what that entails, it is what he has decided to do. Shortly after arriving at Culver Creek Boarding School, he meets his roommate, gets a nickname and falls in love. Hard. Her name is Alaska Young and she is a force to be reckoned with.
I loved it so much that I paid no attention to the days that were passing or the pages that brought me closer to "After." When I finally came to "After" my days caught up with me. And I cried. I cried so hard I had to close the book and just exist with my tears. I couldn't read it for days after that. I was too afraid that the words would pick at the scar my pain had left, reopening something I was trying to let heal. Maybe not quite a week later I thought it would be okay to pick it up again. It wasn't. But even through the pain and the tears I was reminded why it was all okay.Because, as C. S. Lewis said, we read to know we are not alone. Someone else understood the pain of loss. Someone else knew what it was like to realize your memory of a person was fading, and that that realization brought a completely different wave of grief.
Sorry for the overly emotional response to this book. Even if I hadn't been dealing with something personal, this book still would have struck a chord with my emotions. It's not just the content; it's the style. John Green has an incredible storytelling gift. He has a certain way of drawing you in through fiction, connecting with you on a real level and then releases you with words of wisdom that you realize aren't just for the story; they are for you, the reader, to take home with you and think about. Find truth in and incorporate into the way you view life. Just like the gem he left at the end of Looking for Alaska: The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive.
01 March 2013
Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Ever since I started my account with Goodreads, I find most of my new books from their monthly newsletter. Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore was one of those books that kept popping up on all of my friend's "to read" lists and when I saw it just sitting there on the new book display at my library, I knew I had to pick it up.
Clay Jannon (referred to primarily by his last name through the book) spends his days looking for work. Well, mostly. It's part job searching on the internet, part making coffee, part getting distracted by the internet, part getting depressed by lack of job and part just giving up and taking a nap. If you've looked for work recently, you'll understand completely. He happened upon a bookstore, Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore to be precise, looking for a night shift clerk. Even after one of the oddest interviews Jannon had every experienced, he is hired almost on the spot.
The bookstore is, as Jannon quickly finds out, part bookstore part book club. The members come in at all hours of the day and night, ask for the oddest titled books with confidence, and then leave, sometimes, never to be seen by Jannon again. It is a rare day when a non-member stumbles in to buy a bestseller in the small front section of the store.
But you are asking the question: members? Members of what?
That's just it. Jannon isn't quite sure. He is responsible of keeping track of who comes in, their mannerisms, the way they are dressed, the words they use and what they had eaten before coming in. Your question becomes Jannon's question too and he sets off to figure out what is really going on in Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore.
The way I see this book, it's part DaVinci Code/Digital Fortress (yes, a combo of two Dan Brown books. Sue me.): old school and new tech. It is part something else but I can't quite put my finger on it. The story was interesting but the motivation was a bit on the lacking side. I liked the book, but will probably think twice about reading anything else by Robin Sloan.
Clay Jannon (referred to primarily by his last name through the book) spends his days looking for work. Well, mostly. It's part job searching on the internet, part making coffee, part getting distracted by the internet, part getting depressed by lack of job and part just giving up and taking a nap. If you've looked for work recently, you'll understand completely. He happened upon a bookstore, Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore to be precise, looking for a night shift clerk. Even after one of the oddest interviews Jannon had every experienced, he is hired almost on the spot.
The bookstore is, as Jannon quickly finds out, part bookstore part book club. The members come in at all hours of the day and night, ask for the oddest titled books with confidence, and then leave, sometimes, never to be seen by Jannon again. It is a rare day when a non-member stumbles in to buy a bestseller in the small front section of the store.
But you are asking the question: members? Members of what?
That's just it. Jannon isn't quite sure. He is responsible of keeping track of who comes in, their mannerisms, the way they are dressed, the words they use and what they had eaten before coming in. Your question becomes Jannon's question too and he sets off to figure out what is really going on in Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore.
The way I see this book, it's part DaVinci Code/Digital Fortress (yes, a combo of two Dan Brown books. Sue me.): old school and new tech. It is part something else but I can't quite put my finger on it. The story was interesting but the motivation was a bit on the lacking side. I liked the book, but will probably think twice about reading anything else by Robin Sloan.
27 February 2013
Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
I don't know when I first became aware of Neil Gaiman and his work. I want to hazard a guess and say it was around the time the film Stardust was released. I loved the film so much I talked to my friend about it. I don't know if I was aware that it was a book then but I know shortly after that I read the book and it is currently sitting on my shelf.
Fast forward to 2009. A trip to England has just been made and I am doing my first bit of big traveling in the states to Minneapolis for my English Honors convention. After blogging for my study abroad trip, I find myself volunteering to blog for convention. I didn't do it well or very often, but I did blog about one guest. That guest, you've guessed it: Neil Gaiman.
I think I was surprised by his celebrity. There were guards at the doors of the hotel, keeping the great unwashed non-convention members at bay so that college and grad students from around the world could sit and listen to him read in that gorgeous British accent of his. I don't even remember what he read, but I fell in love. He also talked about what it is like to be a writer and where he got his ideas. I believe he said that his favorite literary period was "Normally after lunch" and all those ideas? From his daughter's imagination. Which I love. He also said that the most important question a writer could ask is, "What if?"
What if...you found yourself around a campfire telling stories with the months of the year personified? What would that look like?
What if...we knew Susan's side of the story? Would our opinion of her change?
What if...hell was worse than anything we could possibly imagine...and then some?
Fragile Things covers all of these "what if" questions, and how. Some of his stories are incredibly moving, some are thought provoking. Some, I will admit, were scary. All were well crafted and beautiful and I absolutely recommend this book to everyone. You might not like all the stories in the book. I'm not sure I liked all of them. But I did read all of them and can appreciate the immense talent that Neil Gaiman has.
(As a side note, you should also check out his book Neverwhere. It sits next to my copy of Stardust and I love it dearly. If you read Coraline, do so with the light on. Trust me. That is one creepy kid's book...)
Fast forward to 2009. A trip to England has just been made and I am doing my first bit of big traveling in the states to Minneapolis for my English Honors convention. After blogging for my study abroad trip, I find myself volunteering to blog for convention. I didn't do it well or very often, but I did blog about one guest. That guest, you've guessed it: Neil Gaiman.
I think I was surprised by his celebrity. There were guards at the doors of the hotel, keeping the great unwashed non-convention members at bay so that college and grad students from around the world could sit and listen to him read in that gorgeous British accent of his. I don't even remember what he read, but I fell in love. He also talked about what it is like to be a writer and where he got his ideas. I believe he said that his favorite literary period was "Normally after lunch" and all those ideas? From his daughter's imagination. Which I love. He also said that the most important question a writer could ask is, "What if?"
What if...you found yourself around a campfire telling stories with the months of the year personified? What would that look like?
What if...we knew Susan's side of the story? Would our opinion of her change?
What if...hell was worse than anything we could possibly imagine...and then some?
Fragile Things covers all of these "what if" questions, and how. Some of his stories are incredibly moving, some are thought provoking. Some, I will admit, were scary. All were well crafted and beautiful and I absolutely recommend this book to everyone. You might not like all the stories in the book. I'm not sure I liked all of them. But I did read all of them and can appreciate the immense talent that Neil Gaiman has.
(As a side note, you should also check out his book Neverwhere. It sits next to my copy of Stardust and I love it dearly. If you read Coraline, do so with the light on. Trust me. That is one creepy kid's book...)
22 February 2013
Possession by A. S. Byatt
I interrupt the new book reviews to bring you an old review. Well, an old one for me. I found Possession when I was a student worker at my university's library. I saw it get shelved a few times before I actually had time to read it. Now it is not only a favorite movie but probably one of the books I recommend the most.
Roland Michell and Maud Bailey are scholars of two Victorian era poets, Randolph H. Ash and Christabel LaMotte, respectively. Roland is an under appreciated researcher, toiling away in the bowels of the British Museum. One day, he is researching one of Ash's books in the British Library and comes upon two copies of an unfinished letter to an unnamed woman. It was a very well documented fact that Ash was married happily. Who was this mysterious woman? If a finished copy of the letter was sent, it would change the face of Ash scholarship!
Roland tracks down a few facts that lead him to visit Maud Bailey. Together they embark on an adventure to find out who the mysterious woman is, if there is any chance it could be Christabel, what happened to the letters and how the long dead poets lives turned out. Of course, when you research an old love story there are usually present day repercussions...
I love this book. Two poets in love? Excellent. I will confess, however, that the first time I read this, I struggled. Part of the beauty of the book is in the story, while part is in the poetry. Poetry from Ash and LaMotte are woven through the book in such a beautiful, but sometimes overwhelming way. There is a large section of poetry in the middle of one of the most important parts in the book! The first time through I am pretty sure I skipped it all just so I could find out what happened!
I hear you saying, "Now wait a second. This book is fiction. What poetry could there be?" And I will tell you: that is the beauty of this book. It is not only an excellent story, but so much work has been put into the character's history and back story that is almost hard to remember that the book is, in fact, not true. Byatt not only created the story of two poets who fall in love, but wrote poetry in two very distinct styles for her poets in love. Sometimes it is hard to switch gears from reading prose to reading poetry. I think probably every other time I read this book, I'll just breeze over the poems. Not because they are boring; I'm just in the prose mode.
Honestly, I have no reservations about recommending this book. I suggest it to the reader, the poet, the lover, and the writer in you and your friends.
If you decide to give this one a try (and I really think you should!), please let me know what you think of it!
P.S. The movie adaptation of this is BRILLIANT! I love it. Check out the trailer!
Roland Michell and Maud Bailey are scholars of two Victorian era poets, Randolph H. Ash and Christabel LaMotte, respectively. Roland is an under appreciated researcher, toiling away in the bowels of the British Museum. One day, he is researching one of Ash's books in the British Library and comes upon two copies of an unfinished letter to an unnamed woman. It was a very well documented fact that Ash was married happily. Who was this mysterious woman? If a finished copy of the letter was sent, it would change the face of Ash scholarship!
Roland tracks down a few facts that lead him to visit Maud Bailey. Together they embark on an adventure to find out who the mysterious woman is, if there is any chance it could be Christabel, what happened to the letters and how the long dead poets lives turned out. Of course, when you research an old love story there are usually present day repercussions...
I love this book. Two poets in love? Excellent. I will confess, however, that the first time I read this, I struggled. Part of the beauty of the book is in the story, while part is in the poetry. Poetry from Ash and LaMotte are woven through the book in such a beautiful, but sometimes overwhelming way. There is a large section of poetry in the middle of one of the most important parts in the book! The first time through I am pretty sure I skipped it all just so I could find out what happened!
I hear you saying, "Now wait a second. This book is fiction. What poetry could there be?" And I will tell you: that is the beauty of this book. It is not only an excellent story, but so much work has been put into the character's history and back story that is almost hard to remember that the book is, in fact, not true. Byatt not only created the story of two poets who fall in love, but wrote poetry in two very distinct styles for her poets in love. Sometimes it is hard to switch gears from reading prose to reading poetry. I think probably every other time I read this book, I'll just breeze over the poems. Not because they are boring; I'm just in the prose mode.
Honestly, I have no reservations about recommending this book. I suggest it to the reader, the poet, the lover, and the writer in you and your friends.
If you decide to give this one a try (and I really think you should!), please let me know what you think of it!
P.S. The movie adaptation of this is BRILLIANT! I love it. Check out the trailer!
19 February 2013
A bit of housekeeping...
I noticed a bit of a mistake after updating my Goodreads the other week. As you might remember, I read City of Bones last year and then again this year. When I went to update this years reading challenge list, it took it OUT of my stats for last year! Yikes! I really have no idea how to fix this...and I'm sure it doesn't really matter. I just didn't want it to look like I didn't finish the reading challenge from last year! (If I go over this year, I'll put it back into last years stats...if I remember...)
And since we all need a good laugh after last nights Debbie Downer episode of Downton Abbey, take a look at this video. It's ok to laugh, really...
And since we all need a good laugh after last nights Debbie Downer episode of Downton Abbey, take a look at this video. It's ok to laugh, really...
17 February 2013
A Virtual Love Story in Two Parts
On one of the British news type blogs I follow, I saw that David Tennant would be lending his voice to a radio drama based on the books by Daniel Glattauer. (Okay so fine, it was probably that David Tennant fan site www.david-tennant.com. Whatever. Judge all you want.) I'll take a book recommendation anywhere, man.
I did some research and bribed the interlibrary loan library assistant to get me both Love Virtually and its sequel Every Seventh Wave by German author Daniel Glattauer.
One day in January,Emmi Rothner attempts to email a magazine to cancel her subscription. After she doesn't receive a reply, she sends another email. And after that, another. Finally, Leo Leike responds informing her that she has emailed a personal address and not the magazine, but wishes her all the best in cancelling the subscription. Some slight embarrassment ensues and the matter is dropped. Emmi sends a mass-email to her contacts list...which somehow now includes Leo Leike. And so, their email relationship begins.
They start with just exchanging niceties, and then that slowly progresses to personal things: life, love and everything in between.
I had a bit of trouble with the format at first. The emails (in the book at least) are not dated, and sometimes they don't sign their names. Once the characters got to know each other a bit more, the emails became easier to read.
I really thought that the book(s) would be a bit tiresome. To the reader, it is all taking place in front of a computer screen. It would be like You've Got Mail, except it would be filmed in split screen: Tom on one side, Brinkley at his feet, Meg on the other, as Frank roams around the apartment. And that is all the action. However, it wasn't as boring as all that. In fact, it was very interesting to see how a story can evolve with so little location change and physical action. All of the action that happens is emotional. An email is either ignored or answered. One character sends multiple emails without reply until finally the shortest answer comes through. There are weeks in between emails; passive aggressive behavior at its best.
But of course, my thought at the end of all of this was, "Gee, two people met online, hardly ever saw each other and yet...they seem perfect together. How does that even happen?"
What is love? How do we find it? How do we know it when we find it? What is the main factor in deciding love? In these books, it most certainly isn't looks but intellect and words. Words can hurt, but certain words, put together with the utmost of care can...I don't know. I wanted to say "create" but now I'm wondering if that is what I mean or if I'm just being pretentious about the whole thing. I think when it all comes down, Emmi and Leo's relationship is almost 100% about communication. They email all the time. No phone. No "let's grab coffee." No running into each other at the grocery, church or mall. Just email. And though some relationships can be online or through letters and phone calls, we often omit things. Heck, we often omit things when we are sitting across from the person we are talking with! In these books, Glauttauer doesn't let his characters get away with that. There is a lot of "if you don't mind me saying, I think you are going about this the wrong way" and "what were you thinking? That probably wasn't the best choice, was it?". They call each other out on attitudes, choices, and just life in general. That alone makes this book different, at least in my book it makes it different.
I have been doing this "thing" where I'll read book one in a series but promise myself that I don't have to finish the series if I don't want to. This was the first book I broke that resolve for. Granted, there are only two books, but I had to find out what happened. For that reason alone, I would recommend these books. Also, reading Leo's emails in David's voice? A total win.
I did some research and bribed the interlibrary loan library assistant to get me both Love Virtually and its sequel Every Seventh Wave by German author Daniel Glattauer.
One day in January,Emmi Rothner attempts to email a magazine to cancel her subscription. After she doesn't receive a reply, she sends another email. And after that, another. Finally, Leo Leike responds informing her that she has emailed a personal address and not the magazine, but wishes her all the best in cancelling the subscription. Some slight embarrassment ensues and the matter is dropped. Emmi sends a mass-email to her contacts list...which somehow now includes Leo Leike. And so, their email relationship begins.
They start with just exchanging niceties, and then that slowly progresses to personal things: life, love and everything in between.
I had a bit of trouble with the format at first. The emails (in the book at least) are not dated, and sometimes they don't sign their names. Once the characters got to know each other a bit more, the emails became easier to read.
I really thought that the book(s) would be a bit tiresome. To the reader, it is all taking place in front of a computer screen. It would be like You've Got Mail, except it would be filmed in split screen: Tom on one side, Brinkley at his feet, Meg on the other, as Frank roams around the apartment. And that is all the action. However, it wasn't as boring as all that. In fact, it was very interesting to see how a story can evolve with so little location change and physical action. All of the action that happens is emotional. An email is either ignored or answered. One character sends multiple emails without reply until finally the shortest answer comes through. There are weeks in between emails; passive aggressive behavior at its best.
But of course, my thought at the end of all of this was, "Gee, two people met online, hardly ever saw each other and yet...they seem perfect together. How does that even happen?"
What is love? How do we find it? How do we know it when we find it? What is the main factor in deciding love? In these books, it most certainly isn't looks but intellect and words. Words can hurt, but certain words, put together with the utmost of care can...I don't know. I wanted to say "create" but now I'm wondering if that is what I mean or if I'm just being pretentious about the whole thing. I think when it all comes down, Emmi and Leo's relationship is almost 100% about communication. They email all the time. No phone. No "let's grab coffee." No running into each other at the grocery, church or mall. Just email. And though some relationships can be online or through letters and phone calls, we often omit things. Heck, we often omit things when we are sitting across from the person we are talking with! In these books, Glauttauer doesn't let his characters get away with that. There is a lot of "if you don't mind me saying, I think you are going about this the wrong way" and "what were you thinking? That probably wasn't the best choice, was it?". They call each other out on attitudes, choices, and just life in general. That alone makes this book different, at least in my book it makes it different.
I have been doing this "thing" where I'll read book one in a series but promise myself that I don't have to finish the series if I don't want to. This was the first book I broke that resolve for. Granted, there are only two books, but I had to find out what happened. For that reason alone, I would recommend these books. Also, reading Leo's emails in David's voice? A total win.
13 January 2013
The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe
You see them every morning at a quarter to nine, rushing out of the maw of the subway tunnel, filing out of Grand Central Station, crossing Lexington and Park and Madison and Fifth avenues, the hundreds and hundreds of girls...They carry the morning newspapers and overstuffed handbags. Some of them are wearing pink or chartreuse fuzzy overcoats and five-year old angle strap shoes and have their hair up in pin curls underneath their kerchiefs. Some of them are wearing chic black suits (maybe last year's but who can tell?) and kid gloves and are carrying their lunches in violet-sprigged Bonwit Teller paper bags.
None of them has enough money.
New York. January 1952. Caroline Bender is heading uptown to Fabian Publications for the first day of her very first job. If things had gone according to her plan, Caroline would be home now, instead of just getting off the subway, cleaning up the breakfast dishes after kissing her husband on the cheek and sending him off to work. However, things had not gone according to plan and so she finds herself in the city, painfully single and heading for a job that is now "more than an economic convenience." She is to be a secretary in a typing pool at Fabian Publications but she really just wants to forget the pain of losing her fiancé to another girl.
As you guys know, last year I got sucked into AMC's Mad Men. I love it. I love the characters, the costumes, the ad business, Donald Draper... One thing that just fascinates me about the show is the business and gender politics of the 1960s office. I have 3 or 4 books in my desk at my office about advertising, sex, and the office. It is interesting to watch a group of creatives (all men, of course) sit around a table and try to figure out how they are going to market panty hose. Hilarity ensues and of course, an office girl or two is pulled into a focus group to help the fellas out.
In season one, Don Draper is reading a book about office politics and women in the workplace called The Best of Everything. Once I learned that this wasn't just a prop book, I knew I needed to get my hands on it immediately. On the first page you meet Caroline, the heart broken graduate who needs the job as a distraction. You meet four other girls throughout the story, each of them running from something, finding an odd solace in work. The story is good and still, to a point, relevant. It includes everything that modern books have - work, books, magazines, boyfriends, lovers, husbands, nights out, nights in, weddings, divorce - just written in much different way. It kind of changed the way I thought about the 1950s & 1960s. It was a time where public image was everything, even if it wasn't the truth. People made poor choices then, just like they do now. Choices are made sober, drunk, or on impulse. Good, bad or otherwise, this is life.
I think what I loved best about this book is how genuine Rona Jaffe makes her characters. You understand Caroline's need to forget that her fiancé left her. You understand April's (a girl with a "one and a half" apartment and a desire to never go back home) desire to be loved and needed by people of means. And poor Brenda, a mother and divorcee just wants someone to spend her life with...and would love it if her mother moved out of her apartment...
Girls, we have complicated minds. As the Dowager Countess of Grantham says, "I'm a woman...I can be as contrary as I choose." Well said, Lady Grantham. Well said. It might not be true all of the time, but there it is. We over think and over analyze to the point of completely missing the point of things...
That is, I think, vital to understanding the beauty of Rona Jaffe's novel. It is about work, yes. What does it take for a woman to succeed in a male's world? What injustices do they have to suffer, do they think they have to suffer, in order to keep their jobs or get promoted to jobs they want?
But at the end of the day, the story is about women. What they want, what they need, what they think they need, and how they plan the achieve the success they dream about.
As an interesting note, there are a few reviews from the original publication (1958) that made me pause and thank God that I am not living in the 1950s. Or 1960s, for that matter.
And to that I say, "What?!" Oh, Cleveland Press.
Because nothing ruffles a man's ego like a beautiful woman turning him down, I suppose...
As you guys know, last year I got sucked into AMC's Mad Men. I love it. I love the characters, the costumes, the ad business, Donald Draper... One thing that just fascinates me about the show is the business and gender politics of the 1960s office. I have 3 or 4 books in my desk at my office about advertising, sex, and the office. It is interesting to watch a group of creatives (all men, of course) sit around a table and try to figure out how they are going to market panty hose. Hilarity ensues and of course, an office girl or two is pulled into a focus group to help the fellas out.
In season one, Don Draper is reading a book about office politics and women in the workplace called The Best of Everything. Once I learned that this wasn't just a prop book, I knew I needed to get my hands on it immediately. On the first page you meet Caroline, the heart broken graduate who needs the job as a distraction. You meet four other girls throughout the story, each of them running from something, finding an odd solace in work. The story is good and still, to a point, relevant. It includes everything that modern books have - work, books, magazines, boyfriends, lovers, husbands, nights out, nights in, weddings, divorce - just written in much different way. It kind of changed the way I thought about the 1950s & 1960s. It was a time where public image was everything, even if it wasn't the truth. People made poor choices then, just like they do now. Choices are made sober, drunk, or on impulse. Good, bad or otherwise, this is life.
I think what I loved best about this book is how genuine Rona Jaffe makes her characters. You understand Caroline's need to forget that her fiancé left her. You understand April's (a girl with a "one and a half" apartment and a desire to never go back home) desire to be loved and needed by people of means. And poor Brenda, a mother and divorcee just wants someone to spend her life with...and would love it if her mother moved out of her apartment...
Girls, we have complicated minds. As the Dowager Countess of Grantham says, "I'm a woman...I can be as contrary as I choose." Well said, Lady Grantham. Well said. It might not be true all of the time, but there it is. We over think and over analyze to the point of completely missing the point of things...
That is, I think, vital to understanding the beauty of Rona Jaffe's novel. It is about work, yes. What does it take for a woman to succeed in a male's world? What injustices do they have to suffer, do they think they have to suffer, in order to keep their jobs or get promoted to jobs they want?
But at the end of the day, the story is about women. What they want, what they need, what they think they need, and how they plan the achieve the success they dream about.
As an interesting note, there are a few reviews from the original publication (1958) that made me pause and thank God that I am not living in the 1950s. Or 1960s, for that matter.
“Rona Jaffe will have you believing that very shocking things do happen in New York bars and apartments. This is a story that should be read by girls with dramatic ideas about New York, parents with qualms about their daughters’ ideas, and men with baffling questions about girls’ minds.” --The Cleveland Press
And to that I say, "What?!" Oh, Cleveland Press.
"An exuberant and readable book. Miss Jaffe is an artful and persuasive storyteller. It almost will certainly ruffle many a male ego.” --The Spokane Chronicle
Because nothing ruffles a man's ego like a beautiful woman turning him down, I suppose...
“Any employer reading these pages will make a mental note to check up on what the girls in his office do after lunch, and with whom.” --The New York Post
I know this might not be my best review of a book. The year is young so there is a chance I'll have a lot more that are way worse than this one. If we would meet up for coffee to talk about this book I would probably say something to you about how strong the characters are, even in the weak moments. That sometimes I wish I could be more like them, adventurous even if it meant some heart break. Because, even though these stories of women are fiction, they are and have great stories, heartbreak and all.
"Such is the author's skill that this story of five girls is unmistakably the story of someone you know." --The Boston Globe
"Such is the author's skill that this story of five girls is unmistakably the story of someone you know." --The Boston Globe
07 January 2013
New year, New challenge
Happy new year, everybody!
While I didn't finish my original list from last year, I did complete the challenge and come January 1, I was itching to start my challenge for 2013.
Rachel and I are doing the challenge together (again!) and this year we upped the ante: 42 books for 2013. And yes, we know. We picked it on purpose.
Before I even get to reviews I feel I have to put a bit of a disclaimer about my January reads. If you are following me on Goodreads (and with the help of a friend [thanks man!] was finally able to put a widget on my blog so you CAN follow my progress!) you will note that I already have 3 books read in January. A single week into the new year? How is that even possible?? As my dad likes to quote from Despicable Me, here's the deal-yo.
After finishing my challenge in December, I had about 2.5 weeks left to the year...and a whole stack of books that needed to be read by January 4th. You would have thought that by now I would have learned my lesson about borrowing books from the public library. I have not. It is on my list of things to do. I couldn't just leave them til January 1st...so I started reading. Before the new year started I was a couple hundred pages into three books and had just started a fourth. I did wait until 2013 to actually finish the books, so in my warped mind that still counts for 2013. And that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
Rachel thinks I've cheated. Sorry if you feel I cheated. Please accept the confession...and let's get on with the reading!
Here are the three books I've read so far:
While I didn't finish my original list from last year, I did complete the challenge and come January 1, I was itching to start my challenge for 2013.
Rachel and I are doing the challenge together (again!) and this year we upped the ante: 42 books for 2013. And yes, we know. We picked it on purpose.
Before I even get to reviews I feel I have to put a bit of a disclaimer about my January reads. If you are following me on Goodreads (and with the help of a friend [thanks man!] was finally able to put a widget on my blog so you CAN follow my progress!) you will note that I already have 3 books read in January. A single week into the new year? How is that even possible?? As my dad likes to quote from Despicable Me, here's the deal-yo.
After finishing my challenge in December, I had about 2.5 weeks left to the year...and a whole stack of books that needed to be read by January 4th. You would have thought that by now I would have learned my lesson about borrowing books from the public library. I have not. It is on my list of things to do. I couldn't just leave them til January 1st...so I started reading. Before the new year started I was a couple hundred pages into three books and had just started a fourth. I did wait until 2013 to actually finish the books, so in my warped mind that still counts for 2013. And that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
Rachel thinks I've cheated. Sorry if you feel I cheated. Please accept the confession...and let's get on with the reading!
Here are the three books I've read so far:
- Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
- Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead
- The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe
Currently, I am having trouble picking my next book, but it's not for lack of options. I'll keep you posted and hope to have the reviews up soon.
What are you reading this year? Did you challenge yourself to read more than last year?
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