Nittnut's 1010 Category Challenge - February

New thread for February. So much easier to keep track that way.

My categories:

1. The Classics
2. Memoir, Biography and Autobiography
3. History and Politics
4. The Books Gathering Dust on my Bedside Table
5. Short Stories and Plays
6. Mysteries
7. World Current Events, Non-Fiction
8. Newbery Award Winners
9. Cookbooks and Craft Books (trust me, there are some really good ones)
10. Books I Haven't Read by Favorite Authors

I just joined the Moby Dick group read, so that will be my classic for this month, along with The Jungle.
I am nearly finished with Liberal Fascism and will call that history and politics.
I am working on The Eloquent Essay for short stories.
Today I read The Higher Power of Lucky in Newbery Awards.
I'd like to read Living to Tell the Tale (memoir) and When the Emperor Was Divine(can I loosely categorize that as history and politics?) as well.
The Lost Symbol is gathering dust, and it's not even my book.
The incomparable Elizabeth Zimmerman (craft) will continue to accompany me wherever I go - along with yards of wool and knitting needles, and a furrow in my brow.
That's nine in the lineup. I better leave an opening for a random 10th book.
Looking back over this list, I scare myself, just a little.

I've made some excellent progress this month - feeling pretty good.

The Jungle (Classic)

I'm somewhere between two and three stars on this one. I didn't like it. I can see the value of it, why it's still considered a classic, or something that should be read.

The story outlines the experience of a Lithuanian immigrant family who come to Chicago thinking they will find work in the stockyards and get rich. They are too trusting, too naive. They go through a series of horrible experiences (illness, injury, rape, job loss, near starvation, loss of their home) and become hard and angry, and have no energy for anything but survival. In the end, Jurgis, the main character is "saved" by coming to Socialism, but it's too late for the rest of his family. It's terribly sad, and the stories of nasty things done with food people will eat are totally revolting. Sure makes you think twice before buying anything canned or frozen...

I found the entire premise of the book faulty. Sinclair seems to blame Capitalism for all the horrors of the stockyards, and sees Socialism as the answer. Somebody please show me a socialist government that is not riddled by the same corruption as the Chicago political culture in this book. The problem was dishonesty, corruption and greed. There is no particular system that is free of those things. Close your eyes if religion horrifies you - the only thing that can "save" someone is Jesus.

When the Emperor Was Divine (History and Politics?)

Simply written and spare, this is the story of a Japanese American family whose father is arrested and without him, they go to an internment camp in Utah. The author captures the sense of loss and longing very well. She never names her characters, which gives a sense that they could be anyone.

I loved the "everyday" quality to the narrative. I did not love the transition from camp to home, it felt too abrupt. I wanted to know more of the father's story. I get why we were not told, but still, I wanted to know. This is very different from other books of the same genre. Worth a read.

The Lost Symbol (Gathering Dust)

Wow. Pretty much like the last two, and didn't really hold my attention that well.

Liberal Fascism (History and Politics)

Jonah Goldberg does a very good job of explaining what fascism is, and why we usually relate it to Mussolini or Hitler. He doesn't limit himself to criticizing "the Left" but takes some pretty good shots at Republicans as well.
My edition had the added benefit of an afterward written just after President Obama took office. Very interesting.
If you would like a better understanding of the roots of fascism and the history of fascism and progressivism in the United States, this is a good book to read.
Warning - you will not watch a movie the same way ever again, and books, well let's just say that Louisa May Alcott was a progressive. Not that Mr. Goldberg mentioned her, but I've read her for years, I have read her biography, and she was raised in a cloud of German transcendentalist philosophy. She can hardly help herself.

the Higher Power of Lucky

I loved it! Lucky, the main character is so sweet and winning.
It's about a 10 year old girl (Lucky) who is dealing with a lot. Her mother is dead, her father is absent, and she is unsure about whether her guardian is permanent or not. She is searching for her "higher power".

I loved the creativity - the interactions between Lucky and her friend, the eavesdropping on the various addiction meetings. I loved how Lucky talked about "brain secretions" like the secretions that made her friend Lincoln(?) tie knots and "glands" like her "meanness gland".

I have no idea why this book would be challenged. There is nothing in this book that any mature parent can't handle explaining to their children. In fact, better to run across a word like scrotum in reference to a dog being bit there (where?) than in a sexual context. Please.

Still reading: The Eloquent Essay, Moby Dick and just got Strength in What Remains from the library.

Just to sneak in a few more for February -

I finished:
Strength In What Remains (History and Politics)
Nocturnes (short stories)
Bend the Rules Sewing (craft books)

I am going to finish The Eloquent Essay but it's taking me longer. For some reason I feel compelled to write things down as I'm reading it.