The_Hibernator's 12 in 12 Challenge 2nd Trimester Thread

FIRST TRIMESTER BOOKS

Personal Rules: I like to include each book in every category in which it fits :)

1. Young Adult/Children's

This includes any fiction or non-fiction work which was intended for children or teenagers.

i. I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith (1/2/2012)
ii. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, by Gary D. Schmidt (1/3/2012)
iii. The Golden Tree, by Kathryn Lasky (1/9/2012)
iv. The Ring of Solomon, by Jonathan Stroud (1/13/2012)
v. A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1/18/2012)
vi. Winnie-the-Pooh, by A. A. Milne (1/28/2012)
vii. The House at Pooh Corner, by A. A. Milne (1/30/2012)
viii. Prince Caspian, by C. S. Lewis (1/30/2012)
ix. Maniac Magee, by Jerry Spinelli (1/30/2012)
X. The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgeson Burnett (2/6/2012)
XI. The Voyage of QV66, by Penelope Lively (2/13/2012)
XII. Missing May, by Cynthia Rylant (2/15/2012)
XIII. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C. S. Lewis (2/15/2012)
XIV. The Rock and the River, by Kekla Magoon (2/17/2012)
XV. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins (2/21/2012)
XVI. The Silver Chair, by C. S. Lewis (2/26/2012)
XVII. By Darkness Hid, by Jill Williamson (2/27/2012)
XVIII. Before I Fall, by Lauren Oliver (2/28/2012)
xix. Dragon Rider, by Cornelia Funke (3/2/2012)
xx. The Surrender Tree, by Margarita Engle (3/6/2012)
xxi. The Kin, by Peter Dickenson (3/11/2012)
xxii. The Subtle Knife, by Philip Pullman (3/11/2012)
xxiii. Seeds of Rebellion, by Brandon Mull (3/22/2012)
xxiv. The River of Wind, by Kathryn Lasky (3/24/2012)
xxv. The Land of the Silver Apples, by Nancy Farmer (3/27/2012)
XXVI. Marcelo in the Real World, by Francisco X. Stork (4/5/2012)
XXVII. Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko (4/6/2012)
XXVIII. Mockingbird, by Kathryn Erskine (4/11/2012)
XXIX. The London Eye Mystery, by Siobhan Dowd (4/16/2012)
XXX. To Darkness Fled, by Jill Williamson (4/28/2012)
XXXI. Dave At Night, by Gail Carson Levine (4/30/2012)
xxxii. Zorgamazoo, by Robert Paul Weston (5/1/2012)
xxxiii. Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman (5/1/2012)
xxxiv. From Darkness Won, by Jill Williamson (5/6/2012)
xxxv. Exile, Kathryn Lasky (5/13/2012)
xxxvi. Pictures of Hollis Woods, by Patricia Reilly Giff (5/17/2012)
xxxvii. Islands of the Blessed, by Nancy Farmer (5/18/2012)
xxxviii. The Green Man, by Michael Bedard (5/27/2012)
XXXIV. Divergent, by Veronica Roth (6/2/2012)
XXXV. Insurgent, by Veronica Roth (6/7/2012)
XXXVI. Rage of Lions, by Curtis Jobling (6/17/2012)
XXXVII. The Last Vampire, by Christopher Pike (6/20/2012)
XXXVIII. The War of the Ember, by Kathryn Lasky (6/23/2012)
XXXIX. Chosen, by Ted Dekker (6/26/2012)
XL. The Storm Dragon's Heart, by David Alastair Hayden (6/26/2012)
XLI. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher (6/28/2012)
XLII. The Bronze Bow, by Elizabeth George Speare (6/30/2012)
xliii. Samir and Yonatan, by Daniella Carmi (7/7/2012)
xliv. Infidel, by Ted Dekker (7/9/2012)
xlv. Stuart Little, by E. B. White (7/10/2012)
xlvi. The Amber Spyglass, by Philip Pullman (7/19/2012)
xlvii. The Last Guardian, by Eoin Colfer (7/25/2012)
xlviii. A Bottle in the Gaza Sea, by Valerie Zenatti (7/26/2012)
xlix. Renegade, by Ted Dekker (7/27/2012)
XLX. Alice in Wonderland Norton Critical Edition, by Lewis Carroll (8/5/2012)
XLXI. Inheritance, by Christopher Paolini (8/7/2012)
XLXII. Beauty: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast, by Robin McKinley (8/23/2012)
XLXIII. Al Capone Shines My Shoes, by Gennifer Choldenko (8/24/2012)
XLXIV. The Embittered Ruby, by Nicole O'Dell (8/29/2012)

2. Speculative Fiction

This includes fantasy, science fiction, magical realism, etc.

i. The Golden Tree, by Kathryn Lasky (1/9/2012). Anthropomorphic fantasy.
ii. The Ring of Solomon, by Jonathan Stroud (1/13/2012). Fantasy/Alternate History
iii. Calculating God, by Robert J. Sawyer (1/29/2012). Science Fiction (Aliens)
iv. Prince Caspian, C. S. Lewis (1/30/2012). Fable
V. One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez (2/5/2012). Magical Realism
VI. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde (2/12/2012). Alternative History/Parallel Universe.
VII. The Voyage of QV66, by Penelope Lively (2/13/2012). Anthropomorphic fantasy.
VIII. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C. S. Lewis (2/15/2012). Fable
IX. Lost in a Good Book, by Jasper Fforde (2/19/2012). Alternate history/parallel Universe
X. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins (2/21/2012). Post-apocalyptic, futuristic, dystopia
XI. The Woman in Black, by Susan Hill (2/24/2012). Ghosts and Hauntings
XII. The Silver Chair, by C. S. Lewis (2/26/2012). Fable
XIII. By Darkness Hid, by Jill Williamson (2/27/2012). Medieval world with giants and a kind of magic.
XIV. Before I Fall, by Lauren Oliver (2/28/2012). Afterlife
xv. Dragon Rider, Cornelia Funke (3/2/2012). Fantasy (dragons)
xvi. Shadows: Book of Aleth, Part 1 (3/3/2012) Epic Fantasy
xvii. The Kin, by Peter Dickenson (3/11/2012) Prehistoric
xviii. The Subtle Knife, by Philip Pullman (3/11/2012) Parallel Worlds
xix. Prophet, by R. J. Larson (3/14/2012) made up ancient history world
xx. Seeds of Rebellion, by Brandon Mull (3/22/2012) Parallel Universe
xxi. The River of Wind, by Kathryn Lasky (3/24/2012) Anthropomorphism
xxii. The Land of the Silver Apples, Nancy Farmer (3/27/2012) Fantasy/Mythology
XXIII. Pawn of Prophecy, David Eddings (4/3/2012) Epic Fantasy
XXIV. The Speed of Dark, Elizabeth Moon (4/11/2012) Near Future Science Fiction
XXV. To Darkness Fled, by Jill Williamson (4/28/2012). Medieval world with giants and a kind of magic.
xxvi. Zorgamazoo, by Robert Paul Weston (5/1/2012). Mythical creatures, space travel, and general weirdness
xxvii. Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman (5/1/2012). Norse Mythology
xxviii. From Darkness Won, by Jill Williamson (5/6/2012). Medieval world with giants and a kind of magic.
xxix. Exile, by Kathryn Lasky (5/13/2012). Anthropomorphic world with owls
xxx. Islands of the Blessed, by Nancy Farmer (5/18/2012). Fantasy/Mythology
xxxi. The Green Man, by Michael Bedard (5/27/2012). Fantasy, Magical Realism
XXXII.Divergent, by Veronica Roth (6/2/2012). YA Dystopia
XXXIII. Insurgent, by Veronica Roth (6/7/2012). YA Dystopia
XXXIV. Rage of Lions, by Curtis Jobling (6/17/2012). Fantasy world
XXXV. The Last Vampire, by Christopher Pike (6/20/2012). Urban fantasy with vampires and Hindu mythology
XXXVI. The War of the Ember, by Kathryn Lasky (6/23/2012). Anthropological fantasy
XXXVII. Chosen, by Ted Dekker (6/26/2012)
XXXVIII. The Storm Dragon's Heart, by David Alastair Hayden (6/26/2012)
xxxix. The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller (7/8/2012)
xl. Infidel, by Ted Dekker (7/9/2012)
xli. Stuart Little, by E. B. White (7/10/2012)
xlii. The Amber Spyglass, by Philip Pullman (7/19/2012)
xliii. Grimm's Fairy Tales: Barnes and Noble Edition, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (7/23/2012)
xliv. The Last Guardian, by Eoin Colfer (7/25/2012)
xlv. Grimm's Household Stories, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm; Lucy Crane translation (7/27/2012)
xlvi. Renegade, by Ted Dekker (7/27/2012)
XLVII. Alice in Wonderland Norton Critical Edition, by Lewis Carroll (8/5/2012)
XLVIII. Inheritance, by Christopher Paolini (8/7/2012)
XLIX. Dracula, by Bram Stoker (8/15/2012)
XLX. Beauty: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast, by Robin McKinley (8/23/2012)

3. Science and Medicine

Non-fiction books that discuss science or medicine (I have a particular fondness for disease and neuroscience, perhaps I'm a little off?)

i. The Emperor of All Maladies, by Siddhartha Mukherjee (1/25/2012)--Biography of cancer.
ii. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot (1/27/2012)--history of HeLa cells and the woman who "donated" them.
III. Physics of the Impossible, by Michio Kaku (2/12/2012). Physics
IV. Genesis of Science, by John Hannam (2/21/2012). History of Science and Medicine
V. The Spiritual Brain, by Mario Beauregard (2/24/2012). Neuroscience
VI. Animals in Translation, by Temple Grandin (4/25/2012). Animal Behavior.
VII. Cro-Magnon, by Brian Fagan (6/24/2012). Stone age humans

4. Spirituality/Inspirational

Any fiction or non-fiction book that contains a spiritual message, promotes positive social change, or promotes personal development. Keep in mind that I see a spiritual message in a lot of books that aren't meant to be outwardly religious. So this category shall be very easy for me. :)

i. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, by Gary D. Schmidt (1/3/2012)--This book was about a minister's son who fought for the good of the down-trodden despite the insurmountable resistance of racist and amoral people who kept lecturing him on "Christian" morals.
ii. The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch (1/4/2012)--Motivationally inspiring rather than spiritual
iii. The Help, by Kathryn Stockett (1/14/2012)--anti-racism message (promotes social change)
iv. The Chair, by James L. Rubart (1/26/2012)--Christian Fiction (suspense)
v. Calculating God, by Robert J. Sawyer (1/29/2012). Provides "scientific evidence" for the existence of God. Not Christian...more of a...well, new religion.
vi. Prince Caspian, by C. S. Lewis (1/30/2012). Christian allegory
vii. Maniac Magee, by Jerry Spinelli (1/30/2012). Race relations.
VIII. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C. S. Lewis (2/15/2012). Christian Allegory
IX. The Rock and the River, by Kekla Magoon (2/17/2012). Race relations
X. The Spiritual Brain, by Mario Beauregard (2/24/2012). Spirituality and Mysticism
XI. The Silver Chair, by C. S. Lewis (2/26/2012). Christian Allegory
XII. By Darkness Hid, by Jill Williamson (2/27/2012). Christian Allegory
XIII. Before I Fall, by Laruen Oliver (2/28/2012). Redemption
xiv. Shadows: Book of Aleth, Part 1 (3/3/2012)Christian Fiction
xv. Prophet, by R. J. Larson (3/13/2012) Christian Fiction
xvi. The Book of Mormon, by Joseph Smith (3/22/2012). Religious text
XVII. Paradise Lost, by John Milton (4/4/2012). Christian epic poetry
XVIII. The Gnostic Gospels, by Elaine Pagels (4/24/2012). Study of Gnosticism
XIX. To Darkness Fled, by Jill Williamson (4/28/2012). Christian Allegory
xx. From Darkness Won, by Jill Williamson (5/6/2012). Christian Allegory
xxi. Surrender the Dawn, by MaryLu Tyndall (5/12/2012). Christian romance (historical fiction)
XXII. Chosen, by Ted Dekker (6/26/2012)
XXIII. The Bronze Bow, by Elizabeth George Speare (6/30/2012)
xxiv. Infidel, by Ted Dekker (7/9/2012)
xxv. Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths, by Bruce Feiler (7/11/2012)
xxvi. Saving Hope, by Margaret Daley (7/11/2012)
xxvii. Translation of the Bones, by Francesca Kay (7/17/2012)
xxviii. Wildflowers from Winter, by Katie Ganshert (7/23/2012)
xxix. Renegade, by Ted Dekker (7/27/2012)
XXX. The Embittered Ruby, by Nicole O'Dell (8/29/2012)

5. Classics

I will include all books published before 1960 as classics.

i. I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith (1/2/2012) Originally published in 1948.
ii. A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1/18/2012) Originally published in 1905.
iii. Winnie-the-Pooh, by A. A. Milne (1/28/2012) Originally published in 1926.
iv. The House at Pooh Corner, by A. A. Milne (1/30/2012) Originally published in 1928.
v. Prince Caspian, by C. S. Lewis (1/30/2012). Originally published in 1951.
VI. The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgeson Burnett (2/6/2012). Originally published in 1911.
VII. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens (2/7/2012). Originally published in 1861.
VIII. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C. S. Lewis (2/15/2012). Originally published in 1952.
IX. The Silver Chair, by C. S. Lewis (2/26/2012). Originally published in 1953.
X. A Preface to Paradise Lost, C. S. Lewis (2/29/2012). Originally published in 1942.
xi. Kim, by Rudyard Kipling (3/20/2012). Originally published in 1901.
xii. The Book of Mormon, by Joseph Smith (3/22/2012). Originally published in 1830.
XIII. Paradise Lost, by John Milton (4/3/2012). Originally published in 1667.
XIV. David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens (4/17/2012). Originally published in 1850.
XV. Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe (4/29/2012). Originally published in 1958.
xvi. Stuart Little, by E. B. White (7/9/2012). Originally published in 1945.
xvii. Grimm's Fairy Tales: Barnes and Noble Edition, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (7/23/2012)
xviii. Grimm's Household Stories, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm; Lucy Crane translation (7/27/2012)
xix. Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson (7/30/2012). Originally published in 1886.
XX. Alice in Wonderland Norton Critical Edition, by Lewis Carroll (8/5/2012)
XXI. Agnes Grey, by Anne Bronte (8/8/2012)
XXII. Dracula, by Bram Stoker (8/15/2012)

6. Books people asked me to read

These pile up faster than you can imagine. My aunt is the biggest villian of all, but I forgive her because she has wonderful taste. :)

i. I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith (1/2/2012)--My aunt Anne gave me this book to read YEARS ago!
ii. A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1/18/2012)--My dad bought this and told me to read it.
iii. The Professor and the Madman, by Simon Winchester (1/24/2012). My aunt Anne wanted me to read this book.
iv. The Emperor of All Maladies, by Siddhartha Mukherjee (1/25/2012). My former boss Phil told me to read this. Despite his being my former boss, I read it.
v. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot (1/27/2012). My friends Alicia and Rezan loved this book and talk about it all the time.
VI. One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez (2/5/2012). This is one of my boyfriend's favorite books. It was also recommended by my friend Denise.
VII. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins (2/21/2012). My friend Shweta has been trying to get me to read this book. And now my friend Alicia insisted I read it so we can watch the movie.
viii. Dragon Rider, by Cornelia Funke (3/2/2012). My aunt Anne told me I should read this.
ix. The Book of Mormon, by Joseph Smith (3/22/2012). A couple of LDS missionaries and many of their eager Mormon friends asked me to read this. :)
X. Pawn of Prophecy, by David Eddings (4/3/2012). My friend Alicia wanted me to read The Belgariad.

7. 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

I. One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez (2/5/2012) 1001
II. Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens (2/7/2012) 1001
III. The Reader, Bernhard Schlink (2/14/2012) 1001
iv. Kim, Rudyard Kipling (3/20/2012) 1001
V. David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens (4/17/2012) 1001
VI. Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe (4/28/2012) 1001
vii. In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote (5/24/2012) 1001
viii. Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (7/4/2012) 1001
ix. Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson (7/30/2012)
X. Alice in Wonderland Norton Critical Edition, by Lewis Carroll (8/5/2012)
XI. Agnes Grey, by Anne Bronte (8/8/2012)
XII. Dracula, by Bram Stoker (8/15/2012)

8. History or Historical Fiction

Any fiction or non-fiction book which has a historical setting.

i. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, by Gary D. Schmidt (1/3/2012)--Fiction set in Maine 1911
ii. The Ring of Solomon, by Jonathan Stroud (1/13/2012)--Fiction set in Israel during the rule of King Solomon
iii. The Help, by Kathryn Stockett (1/14/2012)--Fiction set in Mississippi in the early 1960's
iv. The Great Fortune, by Olivia Manning (1/19/2012)--Fiction set in Romania during WWII outbreak.
v. The Emperor of All Maladies, by Siddhartha Mukherjee (1/25/2012)--History of medicine
VI. The Reader, Bernhard Schlink (2/14/2012)--WWII/Holocaust
VII. The Rock and the River, by Kekla Magoon (2/17/2012)--1960's Chicago
VIII. The Woman in Black, by Susan Hill (2/24/2012)
ix. The Surrender Tree, by Margarita Engle (3/5/2012)
x. The Kin, by Peter Dickenson (3/11/2012) Prehistoric
xi. The Land of the Silver Apples, by Nancy Farmer (3/27/2012) 790AD England
XII. Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko (4/6/2012) 1935 Alcatraz
XIII. The Gnostic Gospels, by Elaine Pagels (4/24/2012). Early Christian History
XIV. Dave At Night, by Gail Carson Levine (4/30/2012). 1920's Harlem
xv. Odd and the Frost Giants, by Niel Gaiman (5/1/2012). Norway in the time of the Vikings
xvi. Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond (5/11/2012). Anthropological history over time.
xvii. Surrender the Dawn, by MaryLu Tyndall (5/12/2012). American War of 1812.
xviii. Islands of the Blessed, Nancy Farmer (5/18/2012). 790AD England
xiv. In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote (5/24/2012) 1960's Kansas
XV. Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel (6/13/2012) 16th century England
XVI. Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation, by Elaine Pagels (6/17/2012) Early Christianity
XVII. The Old Gringo, by Carlos Fuentes (6/18/2012) Mexican Revolution
XVIII. Bring Up the Bodies, by Hilary Mantel (6/21/2012) 16th century England
XIX. The Septembers of Shiraz, by Dalia Sofer (6/30/2012) Iranian Revolution
XX. The Bronze Bow, by Elizabeth George Speare (6/30/2012) Biblical Israel
xxi. Half of a Yellow Sun, by Cimamanda Ngozi Adichie (7/4/2012) 1970 Nigeria
xxii. The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller (7/8/2012) Ancient Greece

9. Memoir and Biography

i. The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch (1/4/2012). Memoir
ii. The Professor and the Madman, by Simon Winchester (1/24/2012). Biography of the makers of the OED.
iii. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot (1/27/2012). Biography of Henrietta Lacks as well as some history of medicine
IV. Catch Me if You Can, by Stan Redding (2/1/2012). Biography of Abagnale.
V. The Complete Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi (2/7/2012). Memoir
VI. Born on a Blue Day, by Daniel Tammet (4/22/2012). Memoir
vii. Cleopatra: A Life, by Stacy Schiff (7/5/2012) Biography of Cleopatra
viii. Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths, by Bruce Feiler (7/11/2012)
ix. I Shall Not Hate, by Izzeldin Abuelaish (7/24/2012)
X. The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East, by Sandy Tolan (8/4/2012)

10. Award Winners

Specifically, I am interested in the Pulitzer, Newbery, Printz, Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Bram Stoker, Christy, or Edgar Awards. I will also include "honor" books, since I feel that the difference in an "honor" and an "award" is pure luck of the voting-pool draw. Oh! And let's not forget the Nobel Prize!

i. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, by Gary D. Schmidt (1/3/2012) This book was both a Newbery and a Printz honor book in 2005.
ii. The Emperor of All Maladies, by Siddhartha Mukherjee (1/25/2012). Won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 2011.
iii. Maniac Magee, Jerry Spinelli (1/30/2012). Won the Newbery Medal in 1991.
IV. One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez (2/5/2012). Marquez won the Nobel prize for literature in 1982.
V. Missing May, Cynthia Rylant (2/15/2012). Newbery Medal 1993.
VI. By Darkness Hid, by Jill Williamson (2/27/2012). Christy Award 2010.
vii. The Surrender Tree, by Margarita Engle (3/5/2012). Newbery Honor 2009.
viii. Kim, by Rudyard Kipling (3/20/2012). Kipling one the Nobel prize for literature in 1907.
ix. Columbine, by Dave Cullen (3/31/2012). This book won the Edgar Award for Fact Crime in 2010.
X. Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko (4/6/2012). Newbery Honor book in 2005.
XI. The Speed of Dark, by Elizabeth Moon (4/11/2012). Nebula Award 2003.
XII. To Darkness Fled, by Jill Williamson (4/28/2012). Christy Award 2011.
xiii. Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond (5/12/2012). Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction 1998.
xiv. Pictures of Hollis Woods, by Patricia Reilly Giff (5/17/2012). Newbery Honor book in 2003.
xv. In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote (5/24/2012). Edgar Award Fact Crime 1966
XVI. Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel (6/13/2012). Booker prize 2009; Orange Prize Shortlist 2010.
XVII. The Septembers of Shiraz, by Dalia Sofer (6/30/2012). Orange Prize Longlist 2008.
XVIII. The Bronze Bow, by Elizabeth George Speare (6/30/2012). Newbery Award 1962.
xix. Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (7/4/2012). Orange Prize 2007
xx. The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller (7/8/2012). Orange Prize 2012.
xxi. Translation of the Bones, by Francesca Kay (7/19/2012). Orange Prize longlist 2012.
XXII. Skios, by Michael Frayn

11. International

Books originally written in a language other than English or books by AND about people from countries other than America, England, and Canada. Fiction or non-fiction accepted.

I. One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez (2/5/2012). Translated from the Spanish. Columbian author. Took place in Columbia.
II. The Complete Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi (2/7/2012). Translated from the French. Iranian author. Took place in Iran and Austria.
III. The Reader, by Bernhard Schlink (2/13/2012). Translated from the German. German writer. Took place in Germany.
iv. Dragon Rider, by Cornelia Funke (3/2/2012). Translated from the German.
v. The Surrender Tree, by Margarita Engle (3/5/2012). Written in English. Cuban American writer. Took place in Cuba.
VI. Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe (4/28/2012). Written in English. Nigerian Author. Took place in Nigeria.
VII. The Old Gringo, by Carlos Fuentes (6/18/2012). Written in Spanish. Mexican Author. Took place in Mexico.
VIII. The Septembers of Shiraz, by Dalia Sofer (6/30/2012). Written in English. Iranian expatriate author. Took place in Iran.
ix. Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (7/4/2012). Written in English. Nigerian author. Took place in Nigeria
x. Samir and Yonatan, by Daniella Carmi (7/7/2012). Written in Hebrew. Israeli author. Took place in Israel.
xi. Grimm's Fairy Tales: Barnes and Noble Edition, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (7/23/2012) German
xii. I Shall Not Hate, by Izzeldin Abuelaish (7/24/2012). Written in English. Palestinian author. Took place in Palestine/Israel.
xiii. A Bottle in the Gaza Sea, by Valerie Zenatti (7/26/2012). Written in French. French author who used to live in Israel. Takes place in Gaza and Israel.
xiv. Grimm's Household Stories, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm; Lucy Crane translation (7/27/2012). German
XV. The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East, by Sandy Tolan (8/4/2012). History of Israel/Palestine conflict with biographical information as well.

12. Other

Anything that doesn't fit in my other categories. I will not double up on this one.

i. Iron House, by John Hart (1/9/2012) Mystery
ii. A History of the End of the World, by Jonathan Kirsch (3/10/2012) Eschatology
iii. Vampires, Burial, and Death, by Paul Barber (3/16/2012) Anthropology/Folklore
IV. Left Neglected, by Lisa Genova (4/22/2012) Contemporary
v. Iron Lake, William Kent Kreuger (5/14/2012) Suspense/Mystery
VI. Complete Triathlon Guide, compiled by USA Triathlon
VII. Religion Explained, by Pascal Boyer (6/23/2012). Religion in anthropolgy
viii. Fantasy Media in the Classroom, by Emily Dial-Driver (7/12/2012). Literary criticism
IX. Riptide, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (7/8/2012)

2012 Book 68: To Darkness Fled, by Jill Williamson (4/28/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Speculative Fiction, Inspirational

Reason for Reading: Second book in a trilogy

My Review 3/5 stars
In this second installment of The Blood of Kings trilogy, our heroes Achan and Vrell gather an army with the help of the Old Kingsguard Knights. The romantic tension between Achan and Vrell intensifies. I didn’t feel that this book was as good as the first. The religious message got a bit heavy-handed, and the plot barely moved forward at all. Sure, progress was made, but it was progress that was outlined by Sir Gavin as their “future plans” in the end of the first book. There were only two small plot-thickening events. On the other hand, there was much character development, and the reader becomes very familiar with the setting (i.e. which cities are where, who’s in charge of them, who’s on our side). I was also a little irked by the cliffhanger ending. I’m not a big fan of cliffhangers—I lose my patience with them quickly, especially if the entire series hasn’t been published. Luckily, this series has been published so I was able to start the third (and last) book with only a few grumblings about people-who-don’t-know-how-to-end-a-book. Despite these shortcomings, I think the story is very good, and the characters are well developed for a young adult novel. I think it may have worked out better had Williamson shortened the trilogy into ONE book, and edited out a lot of stuff. I realize editing is hard, but there’s really only enough plot for one book!

2012 Book 69: Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe (4/29/2012)

Categories: Classics, 1001, International Fiction

Reason for Reading: 12 in 12 group read

My Review 4/5 stars
Despite (or because of) embarrassment about his father’s laziness, Okonkwo works hard to be a respected farmer and warrior in his Nigerian village of Umuofia. When Christian Missionaries bring their strange religion and customs and laws, Okonkwo and his fellow villagers are first amused, then frustrated. In this heart-rending masterpiece, Achebe brings to life a powerful, though flawed, protagonist who fights for what he believes is right.

2012 Book 70: Dave at night, by Gail Carson Levine (4/30/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Historical Fiction

Reason for Reading: Because it was there

My Review 3.5/5 stars
When Dave’s father dies, Dave is separated from his brother and sent to an orphanage. Dave finds a way to sneak over the wall of the orphanage and wanders the streets at night, where he meets many interesting characters (both high society and from his own social class). In his adventures at the orphanage and the streets, Dave learns a little bit about himself and what he needs in life, he grows to accept his problems and embrace his gifts. This is a sweet little book.

Since I just spent a lot of time on my trimester collage, I'll make this short.

April Review: 15 books total

Favorite Adult Fiction: Left Neglected, by Lisa Genova

Favorite YA Fiction: Marcelo in the Real World, by Francisco X. Stork

Favorite Non-fiction: Animals in Translation, by Temple Grandin

I also read the following magazines :)

2012 Book 71: Zorgamazoo, by Robert Paul Weston (5/1/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Speculative Fiction

Reason for Reading: It was there

My Review 4.5/5 stars
Katrina Katrell suffers under the spiteful eye of her guardian Mrs. Krabone. When Krabby decides to get Katrina a lobotomy to get rid of her wild imagination, she runs away. She find Mortimer Yorgle, who is (unwillingly) on a quest to save the Yorgles of Zorgamazoo who have mysteriously vanished. They team up and have many fun adventures. This book is written entirely in rhyme—reminiscent of Dr. Seuss. It’s the kind of book that really ought to be read aloud. I was lucky enough to get it in audiobook form, which was VERY well read. Some of the rhymes were rather clever, and the book was lighthearted and silly. Very enjoyable!

2012 Book 72: Odd and the Frost Giants, Neil Gaiman (5/1/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Speculative Fiction, Historical Fiction

Reason for Reading: It was there

My Review 4/5 stars
Odd, a boy with a bum leg and an odd personality, runs away from home after his father dies and his mother remarries. In the forest, he finds a fox, a bear, and an eagle, whom he befriends. With these new pals, Odd recaptures Asgard from the Frost Giants. A short and sweet fairy-tale like story.

I LOVE your first trimester book cover collage! Glad to see your comments regards Things Fall Apart and Dave at Night looks interesting.

.... and the New Scientist - Return Your Immune System has also caught my eye.

The collage is amazing!

Thanks for the comments on my collage. It took me a bit of time, but I'm happy I did it. :)

I love your first trimester collage! I also enjoyed your Zorgamazoo review. This won the Ontario Library Association's Silver Birch award in 2010, and I've been meaning to read it. I find the OLA award winners to be good recommendations, because they're based on votes from Ontario school children rather than a literary panel.

Paulina-The Mark Twain award in America is like that as well.

The collage is great! Makes it look like you've really accomplished some reading. Zorgamazoo looks like a riot. I'll have to look for it when I need some feel-good reading.

Thanks Katie!

2012 Book 73: From Darkness Won, by Jill Williamson. (5/6/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Speculative Fiction, Inspirational

Reason for Reading: Third book in the Blood of Kings Trilogy

My Review 3/5 stars
In this final installment of the Blood of Kings trilogy, Vrell and Achan battle their adolescent romantic problems as well as the forces of evil. I was happy with the outcome of the book, but felt the story dragged a bit. Like I said in my review of the second book, To Darkness Fled, although the story is fantastic, this trilogy does not have enough plot to last three books. It could have made such a sweet standalone book! On the other hand, the characters are very well-developed and lovable (even though their adolescent vices are a tad frustrating at times). And there was a good story to it. The trilogy would appeal only to readers of Christian Fiction—the religious message gets to the point of sermonizing at a couple of points.

2012 Book 74: Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond (5/11/2012)

Categories: History, Award Winners

Reason for Reading: This has been on my reading list for years—since before I watched the documentary.

My Review 4/5stars
In this Pulitzer Prize winning book, Diamond attempts to answer the question of why the Western Civilization rose to power instead of other civilizations. His answer is that they lucked out on geography and ecology. Western civilizations were better able to domesticate animals and plants due to the varieties that they had available, and were therefore able to develop larger farming societies, allowing for development of crafts and “scientific exploration.” Also, because they were in larger groups, they were exposed at low levels to many germs, and developed immunity. Because of these factors, they were able to harness the power of guns, germs, and steel in their pursuit of world power. This was a fascinating book, and definitely worth reading even after watching the documentary. It’s just packed full of information, the writing is smooth and articulate, and the research is extensive.

2012 Book 75: Surrender the Dawn, by MaryLu Tyndall (5/12/2012)

Categories: Inspirational, Historical Fiction

Reason for Reading: ACFW bookclub choice for May

My Review 4/5stars
Because all the men in her family have left to fight in the War of 1812, Cassandra Channing must financially support her family. She desperately decides to invest the rest of the family’s money in a privateering ship captained by the town rake Luke Heaton. Because she is forced to trust someone outwardly untrustworthy, she is forced to come to grips with the fact that not everything is as it seems…and sometimes she should have more faith. This is the third book in the Surrender to Destiny trilogy, but I read it as a stand-alone book. (It works fine that way.) However, I liked it so much, I’m planning on reading the first two in the series, as well…just so I can get a complete picture of all the characters. This book is a sweet romance with an interesting historical backdrop. It definitely has a religious message, but it is never preachy. I think it was just what I needed at the moment.

@17 - that's been on my WL for a while - seeing a good review reminds me I need to get round to it

>19 psutto: It's worth it! :)

I also enjoyed Guns, Germs and Steel but I've not seen the documentary yet. We did the book for our book club at work, and it led to a very good discussion.

I have a copy of GG&S at home waiting for me to get in the proper frame of mind to tackle it.

I enjoyed the documentary of Guns, Germs and Steel. His thesis certainly makes sense, and it's also a crash course in world history. The documentary felt a little rushed though. I'm assuming the book fleshed out what was rushed in the film.

Consider me absolutely stunned about the amount of books you manage to read. Well done!

Katie: There was a lot more information in the book than in the documentary. I'm glad I finally decided to read it.

IrishHolger: Thanks! I don't get out much ;)

2012 Book 76: Exile, by Kathryn Lasky (5/13/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Speculative Fiction

Reason for Reading: 14th book in 15 book series (almost done!!!)

My Review 3.5/4 stars
The Band is exiled from the Tree when an evil blue owl (the Striga) gizzard-washes the young King Coryn. Can The Band get rid of the Striga before it’s too late for Coryn? I was pleasantly surprised by this fourteenth installment of the Ga’Hoole series. There’s a little life left in this series after all! Like The Golden Tree (the 12th book), this installment was an allegorical critique of organized religion (this time it criticized witch hunts, censorship, and apocalypticism). I was a little disappointed at what Lasky did with the Striga’s character…he seemed so nice in The River of Wind, and since we were omniscient (and could therefore hear his thoughts) you’d think we would have noticed that he had an evil streak in him? After all, can someone go from wonderful kindness to pure evil in a period of one month? In fact, time makes no sense in Lasky’s world. But I guess that’s what I get for reading children’s fantasy. :)

2012 Book 77: Iron Lake, by William Kent Krueger (5/14/2012)

Categories: Other

Reason for Reading: I wanted to read a book set in Aurora, MN :) I’ve been there many times in my childhood.

My Review 4/5 stars
Cork O’Connor, the former sheriff of Aurora, MN, investigates the disappearance of a young boy at the request of a friend. While looking for the boy, he stumbles upon a mystery (and possible conspiracy) within his tiny town. This first book in the Cork O’Connor series was intriguing. Although I sort of guessed who the big baddie was, it was a total mystery to me how Kreuger’d get there. The characterizations were fantastic, and Kreuger did a good job of mood setting (with his cold MN winter). I DID wonder why most of the characters seemed to have redish hair, though? Also, Kreuger might as well have picked a non-existent town for all the similarity his Aurora had to the real Aurora, but I suppose that’s just fiction for you. :) I’m excited to move on to the second book and see how Kreuger manages to fit another mystery into the small town of Aurora.

Iron Lake is on the wishlist already but good to see another positive review for it here.

So glad you enjoyed the Krueger.

Got a copy of Iron Lake, will have to move it up on Mount TBR.

#27 - I've heard other positive comments about this series, so I'll put it on my wishlist! (I recently started reading mysteries.)

Dave, Margaret, and Kerri: I hope you enjoy it whenever you get to it!

Interested to know it isn't much like Aurora - It does seem authentically northern Minnesota though.

Well, it's not that is unlike Aurora...It's simply a generic Northern MN small town. There's not enough description of the town to give it any individual identity. Which is fine (as far as I'm concerned) because it wasn't the point of the book. It just made me wonder why Aurora? Also, Aurora isn't an isolated town in the Iron Range, there's a whole bunch of little towns quite close together up there, as well as a ski resort. The whole area gets by on winter tourists (fishers, snowmobilers, skiers, snowshoers, etc.)

ETA: I don't remember there being a reservation up there, especially one with a casino, but there are a lot of reservations in Northern MN, so it wouldn't surprise me. Gauging from the map on Wikipedia, it doesn't look like there is one. But maybe it's very small and didn't make the map? I also can't find any record of an Iron Lake in the area. Maybe he was aiming for generic and accidently picked the name of an existent town?

2012 Book 78: Pictures of Hollis Woods, by Patricia Reilly Giff (5/17/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Award Winners

Reason for Reading: It was there

My Review 4/5 stars
Hollis Woods is a 12-year-old orphan who has run away from every foster home she's ever lived in. As a last-ditch effort, she is placed with an elderly lady who is "good with girls like you." In her new home, Hollis is finally happy, until she realizes that her foster mother has a fading memory, and she must hid this fact from the state in order to stay where she is. This book is simply precious. Hollis seems so real--snarky but sad, brave but insecure, and willing to do whatever it takes to care for her foster mother. This short book could be appreciated by adults as well as people in 5-8th grades.

2012 Book 79: Islands of the Blessed, by Nancy Farmer (5/18/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Speculative Fiction, Historical Fiction

Reason for Reading: Third, and final, book in the Sea of Trolls trilogy

My Review 3.5/4 stars
When an angry ghost arrives on the shores of Jack's village, he, Thorgill, and the Bard must go on a dangerous voyage to pacify her spirit before she hurts anyone. Like the first two books of this series, Islands of the Blessed is packed with adventure after adventure, a vast array of creatures from Celtic, Norse, and Christian mythologies, and an engaging historical background. Like the second book, The Land of the Silver Apples, Farmer may have tried a little too hard to pack in extra adventures and creatures...this makes the book fun and entertaining, but it has the disconnected-wandering-adventures feel of Homer's The Odyssey instead of the tight every-event-has-a-reason feel of Harry Potter. Overall, an excellent book for perhaps the 5th through 8th grades.

2012 Book 80: In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote (5/24/2012)

Categories: 1001, History, Award Winners

Reason for Reading: Murder and Mayhem in May

My Review 4/5 stars
In Cold Blood is a first-of-its-kind true crime book where journalism was written in novel-form. In a small Kansas town in 1959, four members of the Clutter family were brutally slaughtered in their home. The book begins by personifying the members of the Clutter family and laying out the last couple days of their lives. It also brings to life (disturbingly) the two murderers, outlining their histories and motivations. This is a work of genius in real-life characterization. The author clearly had compassion for at least one of the murderers, so much so that he was accused of being "obsessed." I don't find this obsession as shocking as some people, I suppose, because I understand that psychopaths are generally EXTREMELY charming and are able to manipulate people into feeling empathetic towards them. I wonder, though, if Capote knew as much about the diagnostic criteria of psychopaths back then as a good journalist-doing-his-job would have today, would he have portrayed the two men the same way? While reading, I kept saying, "these men are psychopaths, and yet they are portrayed as having (very tiny!) consciences..." If the book were written today, I don't think it would be the same book. Regardless, I think it's a classic that will stay with us forever simply BECAUSE it portrays a world that was perhaps less complex and more innocent than today's.

Nice review of In Cold Blood. It sounds like a very interesting read and I've added it to my wishlist.

Interesting comments on In Cold Blood. You've probably got a point. Since we have so much information on how psychopaths work now, he probably would have been a little more emotionally protected while working with them. I haven't read In Cold Blood yet. I tried to when I was still in high school and found it too intense then.

Hollis Woods sounds good.

@34 - I'm sure WKK knew about Aurora as a real town, but I think he wanted it to be generic as well. I wonder if he didn't pick a town in that area randomly, but didn't do any specific research on the town. Sounds like he just filled in generic Northern Minnesota details. As far as I know, their is no Iron Lake, but it's exactly the kind of name a lake in that area would have.

I probably would have found In Cold Blood too intense when I was a teenager too. It's probably even a little intense for me now, but I was prepared for it to be like that...

It turns out there actually is an Iron Lake up there, but it's closer to Babbitt and Embarrass than to Aurora. :)

Now know one would've believed him if he'd used Embarrass for his generic Iron Range town. :)

But Embarrass is quality MN! It hold's the record lowest temperature in MN at -60F. :)

2012 Book 81: The Green Man, by Michael Bedard (5/27/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Speculative Fiction

Reason for Reading: LibraryThing Early Review

My Review 4/5 stars
When her father temporarily moves to Italy, O is sent to live with her reclusive aunt Emily--so that O can take care of her aunt after a heart attack, and Emily can take care of O. In her eccentric way, Emily encourages O to get in touch with her inner poet, and O helps out by cleaning up her aunt's dusty used book shop. However, there is a deeper evil that is creeping in to town...The Green Man was a very interesting specimen since it defies genres. In some ways, it's a psychological mystery, in others a fantasy, and in others magical realism. Its deeper message is to encourage the poets in its readers--though you don't have to appreciate poetry to enjoy the book. I think this book would be enjoyable to adults and budding young cerebrals of ages 10-13ish.

Looks like you got an interesting ER book! I've got a collection of short stories called The Green Man and you're making me think I should go grab it. I don't think of the Green Man as usually being evil though...

& yes, Embarrass definitely is quintessential MN, and if it weren't the main competition for International Falls, no one would've even heard of it.

>44 cammykitty: Well, I don't want to give away too much of the story, but I didn't mean to imply that The Green Man was evil. :)

Aah

2012 Book 82: Divergent, by Veronica Roth (6/2/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Speculative Fiction

Reason for Reading: Curiosity

My Review 5/5 stars
The future Chicago has 5 factions of people, each representing a moral value: Amity, Dauntless, Candor, Erudite, and Abnegation. At the age of 16, Beatrice Prior and all her classmates must choose which faction to join. Beatrice struggles with the choice—does she follow her desires or does she choose to stay with her family? I was deeply impressed by this book. This isn’t ANY YA-dystopia-with-strong-female-lead. This is an amazing coming-of-age story that explores the meanings of morals, identity, and courage. Furthermore, Roth has managed to create a female lead who is strong while still leaving her human AND keeping her morals intact. Beatrice is an admirable and courageous young woman, despite her youthful identity crisis. Roth has also written a suspenseful and intriguing tale—I read the book in one sitting because I simply didn’t want to stop. The action is exciting without being gore-spittingly violent. Sure, there’s violence…there has to be for the plot to work. But Roth describes the scenes so well that people can imagine as much (or as little) gore as they wish. Gore is not inserted for its shock value. Divergent is exciting enough that all action-lovers should be thrilled, and the people who appreciate a more deeply meaningful story will be satisfied. I can’t wait to read the next!

PS FYI I'm comparing it to The Hunger Games, which I found to be tastelessly violent with a rather unlikeable main character. But that's just me! :)

I've read other great reviews of Divergent. It'll have to be an option for my 13 in 13!

2012 Book 83: Insurgent, by Veronica Roth (6/7/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Speculative Fiction

Reason for Reading: Second book in the Divergent trilogy

My Review 4.5/5 stars
The second book in the Divergent trilogy picks up almost immediately after the end of the first book. Tris explores the boundaries of friendship and betrayal as she fights to reestablish balance in her torn-up world. Like Divergent, Insurgent isn't JUST an exciting dystopic novel with unique world-building and enticing protagonists, it is also a deeper book which will make the reader see areas of grey the in the choices the characters make. It's a suspenseful, fun, and thoughtful book. I definitely recommend it to anyone who reads dystopic YA lit.

2012 Book 84: Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel (6/13/2012)

Categories: Historical Fiction, Award Winner

Reason for Reading: 12 in 12 group read

My Review 4/5 stars
Wolf Hall is a highly acclaimed historical novel about Thomas Cromwell's early career first working for Wolsey and then for Henry VIII, engineering the rise of Anne Boleyn as Queen. Mantel brings various historical characters to vivacious life, expertly highlighting their virtues and vices. Her lyrical prose sweeps the reader into the story. I loved this book and am eager to start Bring up the Bodies, the second book in the trilogy. However, I'll note for the sake of potential readers: this book is heavy reading and has a unique writing style which many people find confusing. I listened to the audiobook, which was particularly difficult to follow because of Mantel's unique use of pronouns. Although Simon Slater's performance is exceptional, I think the physical book may be easier to follow. Knowledge of the events described is not necessary for enjoyment of the book, but would greatly enhance it.

I didn't know that the sequel to Wolf Hall was out already! I too loved Wolf Hall and am looking forward to Bring Up the Bodies.

It JUST came out. I just started reading it. :)

I'm not even to page 400 yet! I totally agree with all your comments. Bring up the Bodies sounds like an appropriate title for a sequel. It was a really bloody time in history, and I tend to forget that. I just think of the tower as a holding place for ex-wives. And the hang-out of the ravens. I never thought the ravens might hang out there because there was constant death.

Yeah, sometimes I also forget that the reason all these people were dying is more about politics than religion.

Big time politics! Although, at that time period, it's a bit difficult to separate religion from politics.

Sometimes it's hard to separate religion from politics now, too. ;)

2012 Book 85: Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation, by Elaine Pagels (6/17/2012)

Categories: History

Reason for Reading: General interest in Church history and apocalyptic literature

My Review: 4/5 stars
In her newest book, Pagels explores the history of John of Patmos' Book of Revelation. She outlines what we know about John of Patmos, what he was trying to say with his preaching, and how contemporaries may have responded. The second half of the book covers the history of Christianity in the first two centuries C.E., with emphasis on Pagels' favorite topic of disparate beliefs among early groups. She completes the book with a description of how the Bible Cannon was chosen, with some suggestions about why John of Patmos' Book of Revelation was the only apocalyptic literature included. Pagels' writing is clear and interesting, though a bit repetitive--especially if you've read some of her earlier works. If you're interested in early church history, especially the disparate groups of Christians, then this is the book for you. If you're interested in apocalyptic literature in early Christian history, then the first half of this book, and the tail end, is for you.

2012 Book 86: Rage of Lions, by Curtis Jobling (6/17/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Speculative Fiction

Reason for Reading: Second book in the Wereworld series

My Review 3.5/5 stars
In this second installment of the Wereworld series, young Wolflord Drew goes on a mission to capture his angry half-brother, the Werelion Lucas. Meanwhile, civil war is brewing in Lyssia. I was really impressed with the world-building of the first book of this series, Rise of the Wolf, so I eagerly rushed to get the second book as soon as it was published. Rage of Lions was action-packed, while thickening the plot by introducing moral dilemmas--the consequences of bad choices with good intentions. I think this book didn't quite hold par with the first one, but it was certainly enough to keep me eager for the third installment, Shadow of the Hawk, which is coming soon. I was a little disappointed with the cliff-hanger ending. I understand that Jobling can't tie up all his loose ends, but certainly he could have made it a little more satisfying.

2012 Book 87: Complete Triathlon Guide, compiled by USA Triathlon (6/17/2012)

Categories: Other

Reason for Reading: LibraryThing ER book. I'm training for a triathlon and was hoping this book would provide some useful tips--but it was for athletes more advanced than I.

My Review 4/5 stars
This is a comprehensive guide to training and competing in triathlons. It begins by covering the basics of creating a yearly training regime, then describes training strategies and technique drills, it discusses techniques to use prior to and during races, and finally discusses injuries, nutrition, choosing gear, and choosing a coach. Although this book is advertised for triathletes of all levels, it would be most helpful to experienced (or very determined) athletes or for coaches. This is not a book for beginners or for people who just want to train for triathlons simply "for fun" or to get into good shape.

Nice review of Wolf Hall. I hope to read it at some point in the near future, as I'd like to read all of the Booker winners.

Yay on the triathlon training! I did a half-marathon last year, but couldn't imagine training for three different events at the same time. I admire you.

Thanks Kerri!

I actually thought that training for a triathlon would be more fun because it allowed a variety of activities. The result, of course, is to be ok at three sports and not excellent at any one of them. ;) I'm not sure I have the strength-of-character to run an entire half-marathon. :)

Thanks - I had big plans for my running (marathon next year, etc.), but I had a rather horrible herniated disc problem recently (3 in my neck), which has convinced me to switch to bicycling (I come from a family of bad spines). Or at least try that chi-running thing, which is supposed to be good for injury-prone people.

Wow! 3 herniated discs in your neck? That sounds incredibly painful. I hope things are get better with biking...though I thought biking wasn't very good for the back? Perhaps I misheard.

I'm going to be reading Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in July and I think it would be an interesting book for discussing with other people. Would anybody be interested in a group read?

#63 - The neurosurgeon didn't seem to have a problem with biking...except for falling off. When I asked the physical therapist whether I could run again, she said, "Well...you could try." I didn't take that as wildly encouraging, but I may try the chi-running. I didn't think to ask her about biking though. I'll have to look into it. I just assumed that anything low-impact was preferable.

#64 - I was just telling banjo123 that I'd like to read it next year when I do a Sub-Saharan African fiction category, but that's not helpful for next month. Darn!

I think there are two problems with back pain for bicyclists. First, if their bike isn't the right "fit" for them. The bike can't be too big or too small, so it might need to be professionally fit for you. (Though I've never had a bike professionaly fit for me!) Also, you have to be really careful about your posture when you're biking, because otherwise you might end up putting a strain on your back when you pedal. And you should be careful to keep your gears low enough that you're not pushing too hard on the pedals. If I were you, I'd talk to my physical therapist. Maybe she knows more....

Too bad that you weren't planning on reading Half of a Yellow Sun this year! I guess I kept my categories so vague that they're not much of a challenge, but on the other hand I can read whimsically. :)

#66 - Thanks for the tips! I'll have to find out more about that. I know posture is a huge thing. About 60% of my physical therapy work was posture exercises.

I hope you enjoy Half of a Yellow Sun! I'm interested in Purple Hibiscus too.

I've been meaning to read Half of a Yellow Sun one day, but I'm not sure I can fit it into July, as I have a stack of books that I really need to get through first. I'll see how that goes and I might join you.

Good luck with the triathlon training!

Thanks Paulina! I'll make an announcement if I do manage to drum up a group. Mainly, I'm doing this for my dad, because HE wants a book discussion, so I have one person who's interested. And there are a few maybes. :)

2012 Book 88: The Old Gringo, by Carlos Fuentes (6/19/2012)

Categories: International, Historical Fiction

Reason for Reading: In celebration of the life of Carlos Fuetes (November 11, 1928 – May 15, 2012). This was a group read on 75ers.

My Review 4/5 stars
The Old Gringo is a biographical novel about the alleged disappearance of Ambrose Bierce in Mexico during the revolution. Bierce travels to Mexico because he wants to be killed--and to be a good-looking corpse. Despite these simple desires, Bierce ends up in a dangerous triangle with a General of the Revolution and an American woman. This is a very difficult book to review because it is so deeply symbolic. I think the main idea is that life is like a dream--a dream in which people are prisoners of their pasts. Because of the dream-like quality of the prose, the book is heavy reading; it's not for everybody. However, those who appreciate symbolic and tragic literature will certainly enjoy The Old Gringo.

Ok, anyone who's interested in a group read of Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in July can join in here. :)

2012 Book 89: The Last Vampire, by Christopher Pike (6/20/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Speculative Fiction

Reason for Reading: I used to read Christopher Pike when I was in middle school. Around the 7th grade, I decided he wrote trash and moved on to bigger and better books (literally). A few years back, I saw this book and whimsically bought it. I've finally gotten around to it...and come to the conclusion: My 7th grade self was very discerning. And my 30-something self should be ashamed of not trusting 7th grade self. Serves me right for reading a book entitled Thirst No. 1.

My Review 1/5 stars
Thirst No. 1 is a compilation of the first three books in a series written by Pike in the mid-90's. I only made it through the first book, The Last Vampire, so that's what I'm basing this review on. The basic plot-line is that a 5000-year-old vampire falls in love with a teenager and fights for her life against another 5000-year-old vampire. At first, I was impressed that Pike incorporated Hindu mythology into his plot (albeit with no dedication to the spirit of Hinduism). And the writing wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. But then I realized how flat the characters were and how many loopholes the story had. I remembered why I didn't like Christopher Pike--he scandalized me with his sexually active teenagers. I was less scandalized at 32 than I was at 12, but I still feel the casual "of course they're sexually active" style was inappropriate for teen literature. I simply don't think writers of teen books should make sex look like such a casual, unimportant act. However, I was prepared to finish Thirst No. 1 until the end of the first book. Total cliffhanger! And unnecessarily so. The only purpose of this cliffhanger was to leave the readers incomplete so that they'd rush into the next novel. One or two more sentences would have left the reader feeling complete. Personally, I feel authors should FINISH THEIR BOOKS!!!! What trash! Blagh!

2012 Book 90: Bring up the Bodies, by Hilary Mantel (6/21/2012)

Categories: Historical Fiction

Reason for Reading: Second book in the Wolf Hall Trilogy. Group read in the 75ers.

My Review 4/5 stars
In this second book of the Wolf Hall Trilogy, Mantel brings to life Thomas Cromwell during the reign and fall of Anne Boleyn. I've noticed a few reviews saying that Bring Up the Bodies isn't quite as good as Wolf Hall, though I'm not sure why people feel this is so. This book is slightly lighter reading, and much more straightforward, than Wolf Hall, and I think that makes up for any slight loss of lyricism. Also, some people may not have liked Cromwell's character as much in this book as in the first, but this was necessary for historical accuracy. If anything, Mantel has made Cromwell more human and likable than I'd ever imagined him to be. And this, I think, is the magic of Mantel's writing. This book is about the people, not the events. And she has taken a rather slimy, vengeful, self-serving historical figure and delivered a man that we can relate to...and even like. So, personally, I think this book was slightly better than the first.

2012 Book 91: The War of the Ember, by Kathryn Lasky (6/23/2012)

Categories: Young adult, Speculative Fiction

Reason for Reading: 15th and FINAL book in the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series

My Review 3/5 stars
In this final installment of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole, King Coryn and the Band must fight a final war against the Nyra and the Striga, who've teamed up to raise an army of hagsfiends. This was a good ending to the series, although it was perhaps a little too sad.

2012 Book 92: Religion Explained, by Pascal Boyer (6/24/2012)

Categories: Other

Reason for Reading: Science, Religion, and History group read with the 75ers

My Review 2/5 stars
The intent of this book is to use anthropology and cognitive science to "explain" why religious beliefs developed (and are still common) in humans. I started reading this book with the expectation that it was intended as popular science; but it assumed that the reader already had a background in anthropology and cognitive science. Boyer made his explanations using terminology that was unnecessarily complex; and although the meaning could be discerned from the context, it made the narrative into very heavy reading. Furthermore, he made many bold statements without providing evidence, possibly because he figured his readers had a background in this area and knew where he was coming from. The examples he did provide often fell short for me as a scientist--I felt there were too many obvious loopholes to the experiments described, and it was unclear whether these loopholes were addressed. Overall, I think this book may be interesting to someone who has already read a lot of literature in this field, but I wouldn't recommend it to someone with a casual interest, nor as introductory material.

2012 Book 93: Cro-Magnon, by Brian Fagan (6/24/2012)

Categories: Science

Reason for Reading: Interest in the evolution of humans

My Review 4/5 stars
Cro-Magnon, by Brian Fagan introduces what is currently known (and speculated) about Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals. Fagan spices up his narrative with imaginative vignettes of Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons as they may have lived. I imagine such vignettes would appeal to most everyone in the general public, including teens, though they may be a little irritating to a hard-core scientist who isn't interested in imaginative speculation (just a guess...I loved them!). Another excellent feature of this book is that it has incorporated historic scientific discoveries about prehistoric peoples with modern science like mitochondrial DNA tracing. Again, this feature would be of interest to most of the general public, but isn't meant for experts--there are a lot of simplifications for the sake of clarity. I think this book is an excellent introduction to prehistoric peoples that could be enjoyed by both adults and teens (even precocious pre-teens).

Short Story: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, by Ambrose Bierce (6/24/2012)

Reason for Reading: Thought I'd check out this story by Bierce since I just finished reading The Old Gringo which was a biographical novel about Bierce's disappearance. I think the story was interesting, though not really the type of story I like to read. It was too cynical. I'm glad I read it, though. :)

Glad to hear you liked Bring Up the Bodies. Am looking forward to reading it later in the year!

I only know An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge from the twilight zone episode. That seems quite fascist, cynical and cryptic. Did the short story fill in the why???

Paulina: Hope you enjoy it!

Katie: I haven't seen the Twilight Zone rendition, but it looks pretty similar to the story. Not much was explained in the story...no why, anyway. :)

2012 Book 94: Chosen, by Ted Dekker (6/26/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Speculative Fiction, Inspirational

Reason for Reading: Ted Dekker is my FAVORITE Christian Fiction author. He's very good at getting a message across allegorically (and not with preachy lectures). Plus his stories are awesome. This is the first book in a young adult spin-off series from his most popular books Circle Trilogy: Black / Red / White.

My Review 3/5 stars
Johnis was disappointed, but relieved, when he was deemed "too small" to fight in the Forest Guard against the evil Horde. However, due to a chance encounter, the supreme leader Thomas Hunter chooses Johnis as one of his four new captains of the Forest Guard. He, and the 3 other new teenaged captains, are sent out on a mission to prove themselves. They end up proving a lot more than Hunter bargained for. Chosen is the first book in a young adult spin-off series from Ted Dekker's popular series Circle Trilogy: Black / Red / White, and is also related to the Paradise series (of which Showdown is the first). This series is meant to work as a stand-alone, but I would highly recommend reading the Circle Trilogy first, since these are the books that build Dekker's fantasy world and Chosen takes place after the events in Red. However, based on reviews of other readers, it's clear that people can enjoy this book even without reading the original trilogy. Either way, this book is good wholesome adventure.

2012 Book 95: The Storm Dragon's Heart, by David Alastair Hayden (6/26/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Speculative Fiction

Reason for Reading: This book was provided by the author in exchange for a review. The ideas, of course, are my own. I am not compensated for a good review. :)

My Review: 4/5 stars
Turesobei is the High Wizard-in-waiting for the Chondra tribe, but he dreams of dropping his boring lessons and going on adventures with his father. Then he is given his chance: his father takes him on a quest to retrieve an ancient and powerful artifact that is also being sought by a dangerous cult. Turesobei must learn to be an independent wizard and to trust his companions on this dangerous mission. The Storm Dragon's Heart is a good-old classic high fantasy for children. It was cute and fun, with lots of adventure and young romance. It was a complete story in itself, but left me curious about how the series would continue.

2012 Book 96: Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher (6/28/2012)

Categories: Young Adult

Reason for Reading: This has been one of my top 5 LT recommendations for a while now, so I thought I'd try it out.

My Review 4/5 stars
Upon returning home from school one afternoon, Clay Jenkins discovers a box of cassette tapes in which his crush Hannah Baker explains the thirteen reasons why she committed suicide. Over the course of one night, Clay's perception of life morphs as he reacts to Hannah's tragic story. I was prepared to be annoyed at this book--I thought it would glorify vengeful suicide. However, I was pleasantly surprised. I was immediately drawn in to Hannah's story. I could hardly put it down. I was impressed that there was very little bitter vengefulness expressed. Mostly, she just wanted to be understood. Her story shows the reader in horrifying detail how the little not-so-nice things we do might have a huge impact on others. It's a story that tells us to look at the way we treat other people...and to pay attention to the signals that they're sending. It is a heartrending story, and was emotionally difficult for me to get through, but I think it has the potential to change the way teenagers view their own actions. It's also an amazing hard-to-put-down story.

2012 Book 97: The Septembers of Shiraz, by Dalia Sofer (6/30/2012)

Categories: International Fiction (Iran), Award Winners (Orange Prize Longlist), Historical Fiction (Iranian Revolution)

Reason for Reading: I read this for Orange July as well as for the Middle Eastern literature theme read

My Review 3.5/5 stars
As an Iranian secular Jew, Isaac Amin's life is swept off-course by the Iranian revolution when he is arrested on false charges of being a Zionist spy. Septembers of Shiraz follows the stories of Isaac, his wife Farnaz, and his two children. I should have really liked this story: the cultural setting is interesting and the frightening circumstances should be emotionally engaging. Unfortunately, I didn't feel any emotion about the characters until the last third of the book. I'm not sure why this was...they just seemed distant. This fact is unfortunate since an emotional bond to the characters is really all this book had to offer me. I didn't learn anything new about the Iranian revolution or the types of problems non-revolutionary citizens faced, since I've already read other books on the subject. Not that the story is boring or unoriginal, quite the contrary. I think it would be an excellent book for someone who hasn't read much on the subject of the Iranian Revolution, or for someone who loves reading books on the subject.

2012 Book 98: The Bronze Bow, by Elizabeth George Speare (6/30/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Historical Fiction (Biblical Israel), Award Winner (Newbery), Spirituality

Reason for Reading: I'm participating in the Middle Eastern literature theme read, and this book fits the theme because it takes place in Israel; however, I'm not sure they're really interested in children's literature, so this was really for my own edification.

My Review 5/5 stars
Daniel has been living for years as a member of a band of Zealots who wish to free the Israelis from Roman oppression. When he meets a preacher named Jesus, he realizes that perhaps his path of violence and thievery isn't quite as logical as he'd thought it was. This is a fun book for kids, with adventure, interesting moral lessons, and new friendships. Although Jesus is a character in the book, he is only a minor one--the book is mainly historical fiction, and I think the lessons Daniel learns (violence, thievery, and hatred don't accomplish anything good) are appropriate for kids of all religions or lack thereof. This is a must-read.

A controversial side-note: This book has been banned from many public school library on the following charges: 1) It's too Christian, 2) It promotes bigotry against Jews, and 3) It suggests that Christianity is "right" and Judaism is "wrong." I thought I'd address these issues.

1)Too Christian: Kids are intelligent, we need to have more faith in them. They are not going to convert to Christianity just because they read one Christian fiction book. This book isn't even Christian fiction, though it does get close. Kids will be better people in the end if they are introduced to all world religions, as well as many different cultural ways of looking at the world...it will make them LESS racist and more empathetic towards people with different beliefs.

2) Hostile towards Jews: I'm not sure how? I've read a few arguments on this subject, and the people who claim that it promotes bigotry or that it is hostile towards Jews don't provide examples. Or, when they do provide examples, they quote the book out of context to such extremes that it seems purposeful. But I'm going to assume that SOMEONE (who is actually honest) must have been insulted by this book at some point? I see only two reasons why that would be.

First, the characters in the book are mostly Zealots who are angry about the oppressive Roman regime. It could be perceived as portraying Jews as angry or racist. However, the book did a good job of showing that this anger is rightfully aimed at an oppressive regime. People under oppressive regimes get angry. That's a fact. So this book is both sociologically and historically accurate when it portrays some of its characters this way. Furthermore, the book is very sympathetic towards the characters and is rather more hostile towards Romans than Jews.

Second, there was a very short (maybe 3 sentence) passage in which it said that the priests from the synagogue were angry at Jesus and might try to get him killed. I understand that this pokes at the let's-blame-the-Jews-for-the-death-of-Jesus wound that is still open and festering among some Jewish people (and some Christians???). I'm truly sorry about this open festering wound, but the passage in The Bronze Bow was very short and there's no way it will encourage kids to blame currently living Jews for the death of Jesus.

I grew up hearing these stories for my entire life, and I never realized this was an open, festering wound until I was 23 and talking to a rather onerous Israeli friend who (for reason still unknown to me) was trying to start an argument. He said to me: "You should hate me because, after all, I'm Jewish and we killed Jesus." I was completely floored by this comment because the idea of blaming the Jews for Jesus' death was foreign to me. I answered "But the Romans killed Jesus." I had a Catholic education, heard all the stories from the Bible and still never considered the idea that Jewish people alive today could be blamed for the death of Jesus. It seemed preposterous. As far as I was concerned, Jesus was killed by Romans for political reasons that I didn't quite understand. Though I know now that this is not just an issue with my Israeli friend...I came across the same idea in the book The Faith Club.

I think that books like this with very short passages that reference well-known stories out of the New Testament aren't going to encourage kids to be bigoted. It's bigoted parents, teachers, and role models that will encourage kids to be bigots, not The Bronze Bow.

3) Christianity is right, Judaism is wrong: Well, it DOES imply that Christianity is right. That doesn't mean that it implies Judaism is wrong. It never says that anywhere. There are scenes when the kids break rules, like washing hands before eating...but if kids breaking rules proves that they're right to do so, then the Harry Potter books imply that kids are "right" and schools are "wrong."

I've added The Bronze Bow to my 'think about' list.

You mean "think about" reading or "think about" the controversy? :)

Great comments on The Bronze Bow. It's really interesting how books become banned. This one sounds like the actual historical details are part of what is controversial.

Yeah, I'm not entirely sure...I've read the complaints, but like I said, they either give no examples or they maliciously quote out of context. I've even read diatribes against the book by people who admit that they haven't read the book!

I've not read any comments by a person honestly offended by this book, so I'm not certain what the real complaint is. It's very confusing, really. :) At least the people who banned Harry Potter made it clear what they objected to--even if I didn't agree.

You got me with your review of Thirteen Reasons Why and have placed a hold on the audiobook at my library. The Septembers of Shiraz is another one I hope to get to at some point but not really compelled to right now.

I listened to the audiobook of Thirteen Reasons Why and thought it was very well-performed. Based on the reviews, I'm guessing it's one of those books people either love or hate. I hope you enjoy it!

>87 The_Hibernator: think about reading but the controversy deserves some thought too.

Wow, lots of great reviews here, particularly Thirteen Reasons Why. Fascinating comments on The Bronze Bow as well.

2012 Book 99: Cleopatra: A Life, by Stacy Schiff (7/4/2012)

Categories: Memoir and Biography

Reason for Reading: I needed to buff up my "Memoir and Biography" category in 12 in 12 group, and this book fit into the Reading Globally theme read for Middle Eastern literature since it took place in Egypt.

My Review: 3.5/5 stars
Cleopatra: A Life is a light biography which is appropriate for the popular reader...not so much for historians or people who have already read a lot on the subject. There is a lot of speculation (Schiff admits as much) because there is not a contemporary information on the topic. Schiff's thesis is that Cleopatra is not the conniving seductress that historians have suggested. The first third of the book covers her early life and relationship with Julius Ceasar, but this part not well organized. Schiff's narrative jumps from subject to subject and does not do a very good job of explaining the political background. In fact, this section focuses mainly on how rich Cleopatra was and dwells in great detail on opulence. The last two thirds of the book come together in a tighter, more interesting narrative, however. This is where Schiff discusses Cleopatra's relationship with Antony and its political ramifications. This is a good book to read for the "popular" reader who does't have a specific interest in the subject. However, I 'm guessing there may be biographies that better describe her relationship with Ceasar and the political ongoings at that time.

2012 Book 100: Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (7/5/2012)

Categories: 1001, Historical Fiction, Award Winners, International

Reason for Reading: Mostly, I read this book because I was interested it in...but it fit in nicely with Orange July.

My Review 5/5 stars
Half of a Yellow Sun takes place in Nigeria during the Nigeria/Biafa civil war. The narrative follows 3 characters: Ugwu, a village boy who is taken in by some politically-inclined academics as a house boy; Olanna, Ugwu's mistress and a rich heiress; and Richard, a British expat who desperately wants to be accepted by the Biafrans as one of them. The stories of these three characters are superbly and tragically woven together on a backdrop of war, racial hatred, and famine. This is one of the most impressive books I've read in quite a while. The characters were so deep that I felt I knew them. The events described had an eerie realism to them that comes from the author's intimate knowledge of the history and people. This is one of those books that makes you feel like every incident described is important and well-planned. This is a story not only of war, but of people--their dreams, their loves, their fears, their strengths and weaknesses. Half of a Yellow Sun is a must-read for anyone interested in international literature.

Half of a Yellow Sun went straight to the wishlist!

I saw a copy at a used book store last week and failed to buy it. Hmmm! I wonder if it could still be there...

You really should try to get it if you can. :)

Mamzel! We're giving you an excuse to go be naughty. Go back! Go back! It's waiting for you.

Adding Half of a Yellow Sun to my For Later reading list!

2012 Book 101: Samir and Yonatan, by Daniella Carmi (7/7/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, International Fiction

Reason for Reading: I read this for the Middle Eastern literature theme for Reading Globally

My Review 3.5/5 stars
When Palestinian boy Samir breaks his knee, he must stay in a Jewish hospital for a special surgery. There, he faces his fears of Israelis and make a new friend. This is a cute story with the we're-not-so-different-after-all moral. Although it may resonate more strongly with the Israeli kids for whom it was originally written, its translation is a good addition to English-language children's literature as well. It was enjoyable and cute, and has a moral that every child in the world can benefit from.

2012 Book 102: The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller (7/8/2012)

Categories: Speculative Fiction, Award Winner

Reason for Reading: This book won the Orange prize this year.

My Review 5/5 stars
On the outside, this book is a retelling of Achilles' actions in Troy; however, Miller has incorporated deeper elements to the well-known story. The Song of Achilles is a celebration of Achilles' humanity, rather than of his God-like martial skills. It is a touching love story between Achilles and his companion Patroclus. It is a story of forgiveness for human flaws. And it shows the reader that sometimes the best part of the story is forgotten in legends. Above all, it's one of those books that sucks you right in...and then leaves you breathless when it's over. Although Song of Achilles is technically fantasy, it is also a book that can be enjoyed by literary snobs and by people who don't know much about Greek mythology. I loved it.

Nice review of The Song of Achilles

The Song of Achilles keeps getting such good reviews that I may have to add to my list!

The Song of Achilles really is most excellent. :)

2012 Book 103: Infidel, by Ted Dekker (7/9/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Speculative Fiction, Inspirational

Reason for Reading: Second book in the Lost Books of History series

My Review

May contain spoilers for the first book, Chosen
Johnis has discovered that his mother is still living. He risks his life to follow his heart--which tells him to rescue his mother from the Horde. This second book in the Books of History series follows directly on the footsteps of the first book, Chosen. Since the world is less new to the readers, this second book spends more time developing action and suspense and less time describing the world. Thus, it is a more enjoyable read. It ends, of course, with a cliffhanger, leaving the reader wanting to read the third book.

2012 Book 104: Stuart Little, by E. B. White (7/10/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Classics, Speculative Fiction

Reason for Reading: Believe it or not, I have neither read this book, nor seen the movie. :)

My Review
In this classic tale for children, the Little family adopts a son, Stuart...but he turns out to look very much like a mouse! As Stuart grows, he has many adventures within his home and, later, out in the real world. This is an adorable book filled with child-like adventure. Appropriate to be read to young children, or to be read by a 2nd or 3rd grader.

I remember loving this book as a kid, but thinking the movie released in the last ten years was bad - they don't have anything in common, do they?

I have no clue. Haven't seen it. :)

Don't.

Divergent looks great. I'm going to look into that one. I found Hunger Games mostly engaging but not especially shiny -- Divergent seems like it might do that one better.

:) I certainly liked Divergent better.

Great review of Half of a Yellow Sun. Now I really must read it, but I don't think I can get to it this month, as I'd hoped.

I'm glad you liked Stuart Little. I have fond memories of my Grade 3 teacher reading it to our class, and then I read it aloud to my kids several years ago. It really is a charming story!

With the Bronze Bow being "too Christian", my objection to such books being on shelves isn't that they involve religion, it is that you almost never actually have other religions equally represented on those shelves. Christian books, yes. Jewish books, maybe. Hindu books, probably not. Wiccan books, never. (Do these other religions even offer authors so prolific writing within their fundamental belief systems? I'd be curious to do a category like that if so.) I guess I'm saying I understand the objection, *and* I agree with your rebuttal.

(I also think that all kids in the US need to learn about Christianity because it is part of our cultural heritage. I was shocked when a friend raised Unitarian didn't even know that Jesus had died -- we were both close to adulthood at a religious school at the time, discussing Easter. That really turned me off Unitarianism (possibly unfairly). This leads me to strongly support more religion in the classroom.)

Very nice review, by the way.

And apparently I am missing something big by having only ever watched the Stewart Little film -- must rectify that!

(And I am done now. :))

pammab: Well, it certainly is Christian. But I don't think it should be taken off the shelf because of your argument. I think Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc books should be included on shelves as well. Kids should learn about ALL religions, regardless of their religion or lack thereof. It makes them more open-minded. :) There are certainly a lot of Jewish books as well...perhaps not religiously Jewish, but certainly a plethora of ethnically Jewish books (which somewhat incorporate religion). I don't know about Muslim books for kids, though. There is an unfortunate anti-Muslim tendency in many Americans these days....

2012 Book 105: Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths, by Bruce Feiler (7/11/2012)

Categories: Biography, Spirituality

Reason for Reading: It fit into Reading Globally's Middle Eastern literature theme.

My Review 3.5 stars
In this short work, Feiler reviews the Biblical story of Abraham and then describes how the myth of Abraham has changed over time and between the Abrahamic religions. It is well-written and interesting, and its length is well-suited for the amount of information Feiler wishes to convey. (There were no lengthy speculations in order to add bulk!) I enjoyed it and learned a little bit, too!

2012 Book 106: Saving Hope, by Margaret Daley (7/11/2012)

Categories:Spirituality

Reason for Reading: It's this month's pick for the American Christian Fiction Writer's association bookclub.

My Review 4/5 stars
Kate Winslow is the director of the Beacon of Hope school, which shelters girls who have been rescued from prostitution rings. When one of her students disappears under dangerous circumstances, she teams up with Texas Ranger Wyatt Sheridan to rescue the girl. In midst of all the stress and horror following the girl's disappearance, Kate and Wyatt unexpectedly (to them) fall in love. I am a HUGE fan of books that point out that juvenile offenders are more often than not victims of their situation, and that they have to withstand finger pointing and prejudice of their neighbors and employers while they're struggling to get their lives back on track. Saving Hope does an excellent job of showing this to the reader without lecturing. The romance is sweet. The action is engaging. The suspense is high (or would be if the blurb didn't give away more information than it should!!!). There were a few moments of awkward internal monologues in the first couple of chapters, but they were fleeting. Overall, I was very impressed.

2012 Book 107: Fantasy Media in the Classroom, by Emily Dial-Driver (7/12/2012)

Categories: Other

Reason for Reading: Early Reviewer's Book.

My Review 4/5 stars
Fantasy Media in the Classroom is a collection of essays which describe why fantasy media and popular culture are useful in the classroom. For instance students can learn the same techniques using popular fiction as they can with an old-school class, but they feel more confident in their analyses because they already feel like they are experts on popular culture. These lessons and confidence can then be extrapolated on to classical literature. Fantasy Media in the Classroom also gives examples of how popular culture can be used to design lessons. This book was written mostly from the perspective of teaching college students, but a few essays talk about high school students. It's possible these lessons could also be changed a bit and used for younger students, as well. I think this book would be useful to teachers, even if they don't plan on fully incorporating popular culture in their classrooms, because it may help them to see the benefit of popular culture references their students make during class...and how such references could be embraced as an interesting interpretation rather than brushed off. I am not a teacher, but I found this book interesting because it helped me to better understand what fantasy media says about psychology/sociology/politics.

>119 The_Hibernator:

Sounds intriguing though I am not sure I understand what kinds of suggestions the author is making about incorporating Fantasy Media into the classroom and the benefits it would bring. Would you have an example or two?

>120 IrishHolger:

This is a book of essays by many different teachers, so their ideas of how and when to incorporate fantasy into the classroom differs. Some of them were discussing classes purely composed of fantasy, and others were discussing using fantasy to support concepts in other literature. A few examples of this:

-Students who are thinking about The One Ring in LOTR better understand the concept of the Ring of Gyges in Plato’s The Republic.

-Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” and Decartes’ Evil Demon Argument become more vivid to a student who is thinking about the movie The Matrix.

-Students who have watched a political satire episode by Jon Stewart and are then assigned Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal as a reading assignment are less likely to come back enraged the next day and are more likely to realize that the work was satirical. The author suggests that when he simply TOLD the students that Swift’s work was satirical, they understood but didn’t FEEL it. When he let them figure it out on their own (after watching Stewart), they were much more passionate about it.

-A fusion class on ethics included serious literature such as Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning and Zimbardo’s Lucifer Effect—books which describe motives for unsavory behavior. It supplemented that with fantasy media such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the BBC miniseries Jekyll, the short video Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and The Invisible Man. All of these fantasy works are about grey moral choices, reasons behind these choices, and consequences of these choices. The professor incorporated lessons learned from Frankl and Zimbardo while studying these fantasy works.

There were also other essays about entire classes on fantasy, such as one on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where each season was considered a book, and each episode considered a chapter. The students were asked to analyze the symbolism, the mise en scene, etc. The hope was that the students would learn these important critical abilities while studying a work they felt confident analyzing. Then, presumably, they would move on to Shakespeare. Or, at the very least, they would have acquired the skills and could continue analyzing popular culture for the rest of their lives. :)

There was also an essay talking about how symbolically rich the Twilight series is, but that was going a bit far, I thought. ;)

Ah, great ideas really.

Outside of the TWILIGHT reference. :-)

Ooh. I really, really like the Stewart --> Swift connection! (though ... How is Stewart fantasy?)

:) Most of the books/movies/TV they mentioned was fantasy or science fiction, but they had a few popular culture references that weren't. They were trying to defend the idea of using something students would understand. *shrug*

2012 Book 108: Translation of the Bones, by Francesca Kay (7/17/2012)

Categories: Inspirational, Award Winners

Reason for Reading: This book was longlisted for the Orange Prize this year, and it peaked my curiosity so I decided to give it a try.

My Review
When Mary-Margaret, a well-meaning but slow young woman, sees a vision of Jesus’ blood in a Roman Catholic Church, she stimulates a miracle-craze which compels many people to question the meaning of faith. This is a very difficult book for me to review because I’m rather ambivalent about it. It is deep with meaning—but would mean something different to the “faithful” than it would to the “faithless.” This is a quality that few books attain, and I believe this is why it deserved to be nominated for the Orange Prize. However, this story is also very sad…it took me in a direction I didn’t expect. There were a lot of negative messages mixed in with the positive messages, which, I suppose, represents life perfectly. But still…some of it was hard for me to read. I would recommend this book to anybody who wants to explore faith and the meaning of mother-child relationships more deeply, and with an open mind.

2012 Book 109: The Amber Spyglass, by Philip Pullman (7/19/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Speculative Fiction

Reason for Reading: I was interested to see where Pullman was taking the Paradise Lost allegory

My Review
Lyra and Will finish up their journey (started in The Golden Compass) while desperately trying to dodge enemies and make the right choices. I enjoyed this book even less than the second book, The Subtle Knife, though The Golden Compass was in the "ok" range. I just didn't feel attached to the characters of Lyra and Will, and I didn't care what decisions they made. There was WAY too much Buddha-on-the-mountaintop both in the narrative and in the dialogue. I realize Pullman had a message he was trying to portray, and it wasn't a bad message (if you ignore all the hateful representations of organized religion)--he wanted to say that you should enjoy and live life here on Earth. What is happening in the present is what is important. Build the "Kingdom of Heaven" here on Earth instead of always denying our fleshy bodies as we look to our afterlife. This is a reasonable message, but I felt as if I was pounded over the head with it--to the point that it was distracting from the action. Furthermore, the action seemed to stop half-way through the book, followed by a long philosophical denouement. I WAS interested in his message, and that's why I continued the book after I didn't like the second...but it was a long haul for me. I don't really understand why this series is as popular as it is? But that's just my opinion. *shrug*

2012 Book 110: Grimm's Fairy Tales ed. Barnes and Noble, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (7/23/2012)

Categories: International, Classics, Speculative Fiction

Reason for Reading: In preparation for Coursera's free internet course on Fantasy and Science fiction

My Review
In the early 1800's, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm collected German folklore and published it as Children's and Household tales, claiming that the stories were purely German in origin and that they had not been modified by the brothers. Due to complaints of inappropriate (sexual) content for children, the stories underwent several bowdlerizations and modifications by Wilhelm Grimm. This collection is an anonymous translation of one of the later (more child-friendly) editions. This is a long book of folklore, and should not be read by someone who's simply interested in reading some familiar fairy tales. Such people will find this book repetitive and tedious. Those people should probably read one of the shorter books that only has the "best" tales. This book would be interesting to people who are interested in the folklore more than the fairy tales.

Personal Note
In my attempt to complete these tales by a certain date, I overwhelmed my senses to the point that I was actually dreaming in the narrative style of Jacob Grimm. And I don't mean I had fairy tale dreams...I had the usual dreams, they were actually NARRATED in the terse, matter-of-fact style of Grimm's fairy tales. For anyone interested, there's a recent New Yorker article on the Grimm Brothers: The Lure of the Fairy Tale. I've made comments on it, and on the introduction to the Barnes and Noble edition of the tales, on my blog.

Wow - I'm interested in the folklore, but totally appreciate your warning. Pretty intense when a book formats your dreams. I hope you recover. ;)

Ha! Thanks Katie. My dreams recovered pretty quickly. For the course I'm taking, I had to read another edition of the tales, and some of them were quite different from the ones in the Barnes and Noble edition.

2012 Book 111: Wildflowers from Winter, by Katie Ganshert (7/23/2012)

Categories: Inspirational

Reason for Reading: It's the ACFW bookclub pick for August. I'm leading the discussion so had to read it a bit in advance to prepare my discussion questions.

My Review
Bethany Quinn is voraciously pushing her way to the top of an architect career in Chicago when she gets an unexpected call from her estranged mother. Bethany’s childhood friend (also estranged) has a family emergency, and Bethany’s grandfather has heart problems. Bethany reluctantly takes time off work to visit her hometown—a place she hoped to never see again. There, with the help of a renewed friendship and a rather grumpy, but handsome, man she learns that the world isn’t as dreary as she once thought it was. I loved this book. I could easily relate to Bethany’s problems and personality, so she seemed so real and personal to me. Evan, the handsome farmer, was annoying and endearing at the same time; therefore, the budding romance had a realistic tension. Bethany’s religious epiphany was a little sudden, granted, but it was set up well. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes Christian romance.

2012 Book 112: I Shall Not Hate, by Izzeldin Abuelaish (7/23/2012)

Categories: Memoir, International

Reason for Reading: Reading Globally Middle Eastern theme read

My Review
In this heartbreaking (yet strangely uplifting) memoir, Abuelaish relates his life—growing up in poverty in a Palestinian refugee camp, slaving so that he could raise enough money to go to medical school, and his rising career coincident with his growing family. Despite losing 3 daughters and a niece to an Israeli military action, Abuelaish preaches that love, not hate, is required to bring peace. Abuelaish’s story is engrossing and tragic, yet I couldn’t help but think about all of the suffering Palestinians who don’t have a voice. If life is so hard for someone who has powerful connections, what must it be like for those who have no one to help them? This is a must-read for people who think Palestinians are all about terrorism and throwing rocks—people who likely wouldn’t touch the book with a 10-foot pole. It’s also a fantastic read for someone who is sympathetic to both sides of the conflict, but who wants to hear a personal story. I DO wish I could read the story of someone who isn’t highly connected, but this is a fantastic start. And Abuelaish’s enduring message of love make a monumental memoir.

2012 Book 113: Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian, by Eoin Colfer (7/25/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Speculative Ficiton

Reason for Reading: The FINAL book in the Artemis Fowl series. At least it better be. :) I suspect that he's going to write a spin-off series, but that's just my own thoughts on the subject.

My Review
In this FINAL book of the Artemis Fowl series, Arty, Holly, Butler and friends must save the world from Opal’s last stand. The plot was fun, humorous, and a little silly. Overall, a good ending to a good series. This book isn’t up to scratch with the earlier books, but it’s better than some of the later books in the series. You should certainly read it if you’ve gotten this far in the series already! From the character development in this story, I’m GUESSING (personal theory) that Colfer plans on writing a spin-off series starring Miles & Beckett. If he did, I’d certainly check it out.

2012 Book 114: A Bottle in the Gaza Sea, by Valerie Zenatti (7/26/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, International

Reason for Reading: Reading Globally Middle Eastern Theme Read.

My Review
As a method of self-defense against increasing Israeli-Palestinian violence, feisty 17-year-old Israeli Tal writes a note and sticks it in a bottle. She asks her brother to throw the bottle in the Gaza sea, with hopes that she’ll meet a Palestinian girl and somehow put a personality to the people she knows must be behind the fence. What she gets is 20-year-old Naim, a scathingly sarcastic, but nice-under-the-surface Palestinian man. The book is a series of emails between the two, and as their understanding of each other grows, so does their affection for one another. This was a really sweet book. It was silly, as are all teenage romances, but actually believable (if you have faith in coincidence). I was surprised while reading because I’d originally thought the author was Israeli, writing for Israeli teens—but the book is written by a French woman who lived in Israel when she was younger. The target audience is therefore teens who do not necessarily know all the background in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. This is something I appreciated, because I felt like I understood what they were talking about when they mentioned political and historical events. This is a quick, enjoyable read.

2012 Book 115: Grimm's Household Stories, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm; Lucy Crane translation (7/27/2012)

Categories: Speculative Fiction, Classics, International

Reason for Reading: Fantasy and Science fiction Coursera text: week 1

My Review
This is a short, illustrated collection of Grimm’s folktales. All of the most famous of Grimm’s tales are in there, without too many of the redundant same-story-but-slightly-different tales that you’ll inevitably come across in a longer collection. The illustrations are enjoyable. The translation has a few small errors (apparently), but overall I think it’s a good place to start with the Grimm brothers.

Personal Note:
I totally forgot to mention that I have my Coursera essay on the Grimm's tales published on my blog: http://rachelreadingnthinking.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-brothers-grimm-household-...

2012 Book 116: Renegade, by Ted Dekker (7/27/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Speculative Fiction, Inspirational

Reason for Reading: I want to finish up this series because it's related to a set of books that I have been really appreicating

My Review
When Bilos betrays the team and disappears into the Books, Johnis, Silvie, and Darsal must rescue him. This is a really difficult book for me to review. I’m a huge fan of Ted Dekker, and I’m reading these books because they seem to be the glue that holds together his loosely related books: The Circle Trilogy, The Paradise Trilogy, and the stand-alone book Skin. However, I feel that this series of books suffers from two fatal flaws: 1) Dekker’s trying to be too clever and 2) Dekker’s hammering us over the head with a Message. The other series make sense on their own, this series does not. It’s wildly jumping around from unreal concept to unreal concept, without enough explanation or continuity. The ONLY reason I have an inkling of what’s going on is because I’ve read the other books. And that’s not as it should be. Furthermore, Dekker’s Message is much less subtle in this book than it is in his other works (possibly since this one was meant for teenagers), and the story gets lost in its Message at time. I will continue through this series because I want to know what happens for the sake of the other series. But I’m no longer enjoying it.

Nice review of I Shall Not Hate. I've had that one on my wl since it came out as an ER book last year. It sounds amazing.

Glad to hear you liked The Last Guardian. I've only read the first Artemis Fowl book and enjoyed it but I'm not sure I want to invest the time to read the entire series. Sounds like you found it worthwhile, though.

Katie: It was pretty good...It made me realize how little I know about the Palestinians

Paulina: Well, I think the first three are the best. The first one is a good stand-alone. The first three act as a good trilogy with a reasonable conclusion. After that, they aren't as good, but they're not bad, either. :)

2012 Book 117: Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson (7/30/2012)

Categories: Classics, 1001

Reason for Reading: It was one of the top 5 books in LibraryThing's recommended list for me. :)

My Review
When 16-year-old David Balfour meets his estranged uncle for the first time, he is shocked by the man's cruelty. Soon, Balfour has been kidnapped and he must rescue himself and travel back to the town of his uncle to claim his inheritance. This is an exciting little book...not quite up to scratch with Treasure Island, but still has quite an adventure. It would probably be a fun book for teenagers to read, if they like classics (or if you want to thrust classics upon them).

2012 Book 118: The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East, by Sandy Tolan (8/4/2012)

Categories: International, Biography

Reason for Reading: I realized I know much less than I should about this politically vital conflict and am enjoying learning more about it. I read this for the Reading Globally Middle Eastern Literature theme read.

My Review
Ostensibly, this is the (true) biography of the friendship between the Israeli woman Dalia Eshkenazi and the Palestinian man Bashir Khairi. However, the book also focuses strongly on background information--providing a wonderful history of the Israel-Palestine conflict since the 1940's. I was hugely pleased by this book for two reasons. First, the friendship between Dalia and Bashir was touching because they both had such strong nationalistic feelings. Somehow, despite their very different views, they were able to remain on good terms for many years. That's touching to me because many books with this let's-make-peace message tend to be about people who are all about love and peace and aren't as strongly influenced by their negative emotions as Dalia and (especially) Bashir. This is a friendship that was difficult to maintain, and yet it prevailed. The second reason I loved this book is because of the wonderful history of the region it provided. It's supposedly a "balanced" view--and it is, in the sense that it recommends justice (and sacrifice) be made by both sides. However, I'd say the book tended to be sympathetic towards to Palestinians. This SLIGHT bias is necessary in this case because many people in the Western world are over-exposed to the Israeli side and don't realize the Palestinians have a side at all. This book is highly recommended to anyone interested in the conflict.

I believe I watched a film called The Lemon Tree about that conflict. I seem to recall subtitles -- it must have been in local languages. Was the book about a conflict over a lemon tree? The movie I am remembering is very partisan (though the actual movie may not have been). I often find the changes people make to movies reflects something important about culture and perceptions of culture....

The Lemon Tree sounds really good.

pammab: I'm not sure if there's a movie based on this book, but it doesn't say so on the book's page, anyway. A Palestinian family built their house and planted a lemon tree as celebration of completing the house. Then they were removed from the area by military action (sent to a refugee camp) and the house was sold to a newly immigrated Jewish family (who then became Israelis). Bashir (an Arab man who had been born in the house) came one day to see the house and Dalia (an Israeli woman who had grown up in the house) let him in to look around the house. There wasn't really a conflict over the Lemon tree itself. In fact, Bashir and Dalia handled the situation pretty well. Does that help you figure out if this was the story you watched?

Katie: It is. :)

I think it was a totally different lemon tree.... The movie is definitely about conflict and partisan unhappiness, and your summary doesn't match Wikipedia's: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_Tree_(film)

It sounds like yours was a good read -- I'll have to look into it. :)

2012 Book 119: Alice in Wonderland Norton Critical Edition, by Lewis Carroll (8/5/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Speculative Fiction, Classics, 1001

Reason for Reading: Coursera Fantasy and Science Fiction course

My Review
This NCE contains Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, and The Hunting of the Snark. I was pleased with the footnotes, which were helpful in clarifying many of Carroll's jokes. The critical information included some interesting biographies/diaries of Dodgson (Carroll), as well as a few critical essays. I was disappointed in these because although they were mostly good, the editor clearly has some negative feelings about Dodgson's morals and included many unnecessary Freudian-finger-pointing passages. If I were younger or more impressionable, I'd have been left with a very negative view of Dodgson indeed! Because of these attempts at manipulating the readers' good opinions of Dodgson, I wish I had gotten The Annotated Alice instead.

Note about the stories themselves: These were a re-read for me. Although I love Alice and really enjoyed reading the stories with footnotes (I understood them a lot better this time around!), I tend to prefer books with a little more plot development. Scandalous, I know, but what can I say?

2012 Book 120: Inheritance, by Christopher Paolini (8/7/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Speculative Fiction

Reason for Reading: Fourth and final book of the Inheritance Cycle

My Review
I can't claim to actually have READ this book. I only burdened myself with it because I wanted to know how Galbatorix was killed (assuming he was, of course). I read the first 300 pages, skimmed the next 350 pages, and skipped the last 100 pages. :) I got what I wanted out of it, which is the important part. All I can really say to those of you who are interested: Paolini's writing got significantly better in this book. Still not fantastic, but he's got potential. He did a much better job of pacing (though it could have been shorter), and the style flowed better than the last two books--it was less pedantic. If you're a more patient person than me and are interested in how the story ends, I think it's worth a read. :)

2012 Book 121: Agnes Grey, by Anne Bronte (8/8/2012)

Categories: Classics, 1001

Reason for Reading: Group read 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

My Review
When the Grey family begins to have financial problems, Agnes, a sheltered minister's daughter, begins life as a governess. She is shocked and appalled by how she is treated and what miracles she is expected to achieve. This book is a social commentary on the treatment of governesses and unruly children. It also touches on the charms of marrying for love instead of money. It was a quick read, but rather unexceptional.

2012 Book 122: Riptide, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (8/8/2012)

Categories: Other

Reason for Reading: It was there (audiobook)

My Review
Malin Hatch has avoided Ragged Island, Maine ever since he had witnessed a disaster there as a child. But when a treasure hunter finally convinces him that it's time to delve into the mysteries of the Ragged Island Treasure once again, he signs on as the team's physician. The team must wend their way through a booby-trapped tunnel to find the treasure. This book was a quick, light read without much substance. It's much like Douglas and Preston's other adventure novels (and rather like Michael Crichton)--a mixed team of scientists gathers for the "big find" and ends up with more than they bargained for. I felt that the characters made poor decisions throughout the book, but I guess gold has that effect on some people. If you like Preston&Child, you'll probably like this book.

2012 Book 123: Dracula, by Bram Stoker (8/15/2012)

Categories: Speculative Fiction, Classics, 1001

Reason for Reading: Coursera Fantasy and Science Fiction Course. Listened to it on my car ride to MN. :) Didn't finish it in time for the assignment though!

My Review
This review is for the Audible Edition of Dracula, narrated by Alan Cumming et al. (Wow, I just used et al. in a review. That makes me pretty darned special.)

In this classic novel, a group of acquaintances must rid themselves of the sinister Count Dracula who has descended upon London with the eager desire to create a flock of bloodsucking fiends. This is my second reading of the novel--the first being when I was a young teenager. This time, I was impressed by Stoker's ability to set a dark mood and maintain it through the entire book. There was always some creepy fog or a terrified dog or a creepily sleep-walking woman to spook the reader. The full-cast performance was delightful. It really brought the various characters to life. The end of the book dragged for me a little because I was on a long car trip, counting down the last 6 hours in 10 minute intervals. But that's not really the fault of the book. :)

I'm sure Tim Curry & friends improved the book tremendously. No time to laugh at the multiple transfusions for the loose woman.

Haha! Indeed. Although, you never know. She might have been a universal acceptor. ;)

2012 Book 124: Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast, by Robin McKinley (8/23/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Speculative Fiction

Reason for Reading: Green Dragon Group Read

My Review
Beauty must sacrifice her own freedom in order to save her father...she ends up trapped in a castle with a beast who wants to marry her! I really enjoyed this story because it was sweet and simple. It was a refreshing change from all the more recent "twist" retellings of the story. Highly recommended to any fan of children's fairy tales.

2012 Book 125: Al Capone Shines my Shoes, by Gennifer Choldenko (8/24/2012)

Categories: Young Adult

Reason for Reading: Sequel to Al Capone Does My Shirts, which was adorable.

My Review
In this sequel to the Newbery Honor book Al Capone Shines my Shoes, Moose Flanagan continues his adventures on Alcatraz Island--this time he must face consequences for choices he made in the previous book. VERY cute and funny and every bit as enjoyable as the first book.

2012 Book 126: Skios, by Michael Frayn (8/29/2012)

Categories: Awards (Booker longlist 2012)

Reason for Reading: I'm trying to get through at least SOME of the Booker longlist before the winner is announced. This is one of the 5 easily available in the US, and one of the 3 which is available in audiobook format (since I seem to be limited in my ability to physically read books lately, this seemed the best place to start).

My Review
Dr. Norman Wilfred has flown to Skios to give a distinguished speech to a group of rich academics at the Toppler Foundation. Due to an unfortunate string of coincidences, he is whisked off to a villa while a con artist, Oliver Fox, takes his place at the Toppler gathering. At first blush, this may seem to be only a farcical comedy of errors. Fun is poked at the distinguished empty-headedness of academia, at silly assumptions people make when they don't have all the information (which, of course, they never do), and at the openness of people to accept whatever is said--as long as it is said by a charismatic person. However, I can see why this book was chosen for the Booker longlist--upon a more careful reading this book has a much deeper undercurrent. It asks questions about identity and about chance Eureka! moments. I found the ease with with Oliver Fox moved into Norman Wilfred's life almost believable because that IS how academia works sometimes. Sometimes, it IS more about how charming you are than about what's actually coming out of your mouth. Sometimes it IS more about your name and about who people think you are than about who you ACTUALLY are. I understand that this book isn't for everybody...but I'm a person who doesn't generally read farcical novels, and I enjoyed this one immensely.

2012 Book 127: The Embittered Ruby, by Nicole O'Dell (8/29/2012)

Categories: Young Adult, Spirituality

Reason for Reading: I'm leading a discussion on this book for my Christian Fiction bookclub in October.

My Review
When Carmen's parents get a divorce, she is forced to move with her mother and two sisters from her classy home in upstate New York to a small, dilapidated apartment in Hackensack New Jersey. Willing to do anything to get her classy life back, Carmen makes bad decision after bad decision. Finally, she has no choice but to leave her family for The Diamond Estates--a refuge for teenage girls who need to get away from life and find God. This was a very difficult book for me to read and review. Carmen's decisions were so supremely selfish that I spent most of the book either groaning or feeling angry at her. I think O'Dell was very brave to create a character like Carmen for readers of Christian fiction. That said, O'Dell did an impressive job of making Carmen likable despite an overwhelming number of unlikable traits. That takes talent. I would recommend this book to parents of troubled teens or to troubled teenagers who are seeking God.

P.S. I'm not going to say this in my official review, because O'Dell is very likely to read it in October when I'm leading the discussion on this book, but Carmen's conversion to Christianity was beyond cheesy and watching all the mistakes was kind of like witnessing a train crash. But I tried to say some of that in a "nice" way in my review.

Shines my shoes goes on the WL. I loved the first book. Skios goes on the WL too, but I'm giving myself permission to quit after the first 50 pages. It sounds good, but it also sounds like the kind of book that could annoy me to the point of throwing it against the wall. We will see.

Yeah, I noticed a lot of people don't like Skios. I think it was more funny to me because I've been in academia too long. :)

Looks like you are enjoying a nice run of good books! Choldenko's capone books have crossed my radar a couple of times so happy to see your comments on the both books.

.... and I already have McKinley flagged for my 2013 reading!

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Skios. I'm hoping to read some of the Booker nominees as well, and I've added my name to our library's waiting list for this one.

Academia is it's own world. I think I'm close enough to it to enjoy it, but if I smell a whiff of Confederacy of Dunces absurdity, bam!!! I'll remember to read it in the basement where it will hit cinderblock and not damage the structure of the house.

Lori: Yeah, I should possibly check out some of Choldenko's other books.

Paulina: I hope you like it! Are you a member of the Booker Prize group? I don't recall seeing you there. http://www.librarything.com/groups/bookerprize2008 You might find it helpful in choosing which books to read. It looks like Garden of the Evening Mists and Bring Up the Bodies are the favorites.

Katie, it didn't remind me of Confederacy of Dunces. But, then, the reason I didn't like Confederacy of Dunces is because all the characters were rather unlikable and had irritating qualities that were really brought out by the absurdity. Skios is absurd, but not in the same way. I rather liked most of the characters. It was more about absurd assumptions than absurd behavior in my opinion.

Thanks for the link to the Booker Prize group, Rachel. I've just joined! I finished Bring Up the Bodies yesterday and loved it, and I'm eagerly awaiting availability of Garden of the Evening Mists in Canada, in a few days.

It's not available in Canada yet? It was released early in the US (last week I think). Weird.

2012 Book 128: The Invisible Man, by H. G. Wells (9/1/2012)

Categories: Speculative Fiction, Classics, 1001

Reason for Reading: Coursera fantasy and science fiction course

My Review
In H. G. Wells' classic novel, a scientist turns himself invisible and wreaks havoc in rural England. This book is a versatile classic because it could be read by someone who is young or who simply wants to read fluff, but it can also be appreciated by more careful readers who are looking for undercurrents of meaning. It's a tragi-farcical romp in 19th century England, but it's also a warning about what people might do simply because they can get away with it. This is a classic that anyone interested in science fiction should read.

2012 Book 129: Walks Alone, by Sandi Rog (9/2/2012)

Categories: Spirituality, Historical Fiction

Reason for Reading: I'm leading a discussion on this book later this month

My Review
In the chaos of post-Civil War America, Anna flees her abusive uncle in New York and travels alone to Denver. On the way, she is kidnapped by some Cheyenne warriors and is forced to marry. But these disasters turn out to be a blessing in disguise as she finds God in the most unlikely of places. This is the second book I've read by Sandi Rog, and the second time I've been impressed at her poignant characters and deeply moving narrative. Although novels about the atrocities of white settlers on Native Americans abound, this one really holds its own. It is a book about atrocities, yes, but it's also about love and forgiveness and about freedom and independence. In short, this is an amazing book that every Christian Fiction reader should pick up--but can also be enjoyed by lovers of historical romances.

I haven't read any HG Wells, but of course have seen plenty adaptations of his novels. Sounds like I should read at least one, and this might be the one.

Hey Katie...I'm probably not the best judge because the other H.G. Wells books that I've read were around 20 years ago (when I was a much less mature reader). But I'd say that if I were to choose ONE Wells book to re-read, it would probably be War of the Worlds.

War of the Worlds certainly would be his most famous one. Good suggestion.

2012 Book 130: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce

Categories: Award

Reason for Reading: This is the third Booker longlist book for 2012 that I've read.

My Review:
When Harold Fry gets a letter from an old friend who's dying of cancer, he decides in a leap of faith to take a pilgrimage across England to "save" her. Along the way, he meets many interesting characters and learns to listen to their troubles. He also has time to reminisce about his past...some happy memories, but mostly memories of things he should have done better. This is a bitter-sweet story with deep characters and a good message. The type of person who would love this book is sentimental, and loves reminiscent stories about past mistakes and new beginnings.

Personally, I'm not that sort of person. Bitter-sweet stories tend to make my eyes tear up, and then I get angry at myself for being so infernally hormonal. :) Stories in which people reminisce about past mistakes also are a little depressing to me. I've always felt that we should learn from the past, but not waste energy with regrets. Everybody makes mistakes. If we regret them, do something about it. If we can't do something about it, accept it as a part of our pasts that makes us who we are today. Try not to make the mistake again. But maybe I just feel that way because I don't have anything worth regretting yet, I don't know. *shrug*

This was a cute book, but I don't see it winning the Booker.