Garth Nix: Lirael

2nd reading...This one made me angry. I forgot how Nix intertwines Lirael's story with Prince Sameth's--who may be the biggest whiner of them all.
This text was frustrating and infuriating because of all the complaining and whining and non-action. Because this is the second in the trilogy I should have expected this, but I remember being more captivated and liking this book WAY more than Sabriel the first time I read it.
Not this time. I had to skip the endless description, and I really didn't want to read the Sameth chapters. I would find myself reading and I'd check every other paragraph how much more of Sameth I'd have to read.
YUK.
I kept thinking how this could have been so much more. Lirael's experiences in the library would have been so much more awesome to read about-I know why Nix had to switch the perspectives, I just didn't like it.

Truman Capote: Breakfast at Tiffany's

Meh...
Not sure how I feel about this text. I am glad that I read it, and yes, Holly Golightly is a pretty unique persona, but the ending was a downer. I also wonder how much of ANY of the text I trust--how reliable is the narrator? His object of affection isn't reliable, and those are the two major voices--so it was hard to really LOVE this book when I didn't trust ANYONE.

Haruki Murakami: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

I am still trying to figure out what exactly to focus on with this text.

Christy and I agreed that we need to speak with Shelbi about this one though.

Garth Nix: Sabriel

So, I have read this before. It has been over 5 years and I needed a mental vacation, so I decided to re-read the trilogy.
I LOVED this series when I read it the first time. I remember being captivated and thrilled that the female heroine was so strong.
This was my first introduction to the fantasy realm after a long absence, and one of the first YA books I read with a strong heroine in the lead.
That being said, re-reading this, especially after Cashore's texts, didn't impact me in the same way that the first reading warranted.
Sabriel is whiny, and Nix rambles at times when a more concise description would be more appropriate. With this text, it is evident that a man is writing in the voice of a female, and with a second reading I realized that it really isn't that successful.
Now don't get me wrong--the world that Sabriel exists in is extremely unique (at least for me), but I wanted a little bit more than what is produced overall. The action is good (when it is there), and I appreciate the focus on Sabriel and Sabriel only.
Overall, I am glad that this series did inspire me to venture out more into the fantasy realm--otherwise I'd have never read Graceling...

Robin McKinley: Sunshine

Well, I finished it.
Yep. All 405 pages.
This is one of the first books that after completion, I know there isn't ONE student that I could recommend this to.

I had REALLY high hopes for this. I'm not going to say it was ALL due to the title of the text, or the Neil Gaiman's comment "Pretty much perfect." But, I had hope. Yes, it did say it was a "vampire book," but I know of McKinley's other texts, and she isn't Stephanie Meyers by any means.

But I didn't realize how superfluously wordy McKinley actually is. At least with Sunshine.
This story had SO much potential. Set in the future, magical abilities, "Others" inhabiting the earth, but O. M. G. When pages upon pages would go by with the heroine rambling IN HER HEAD about something in the past, or whining about being alive, or whining about dying, or whining about being friends with a vampire--I wanted to give up and throw this book against the wall.
But, I kept going. I wanted SO MUCH to like this book. I just can't do it. I liked about two characters in the book, and neither the old lady landlord or the vampire Constantine are featured enough to justify reading the drivel on the rest of the pages.
I am actually angry that such a great idea was totally wasted on absolutely crap writing.

Anthony Bourdain: Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook

Somehow Louie and I were lucky enough to fall into two tickets to his late appearance (the 8:00 show—21 +older show) at the Bagdad Theatre. In the price of admission, we scored a book—an AUTOGRAPHED book. One of the 1400 he told us he signed that day for us. He also talked about how he loved Portland and mainly recounted some of the anecdotes (truncated) from this book and took questions from the audience. I wish I could have just gone and had a beer with him. He is that cool. Being a dad has really changed him—he is much more mellow and less pompous than I know he would like to think he is. I am glad I got to see him speak and interact (he accepted two shots from two different audience members during his talk) with the “common man,” and even more glad I read the book that started his claim to fame.

I enjoyed Kitchen Confidential—even as a non-industry person. All the horrible and disgusting habits and trends in the industry were fascinating to even contemplate, and the more I become involved in the “foodie” culture, the more I understand the camaraderie within those who have experienced this culture. Even though Bourdain, as he states it, “neither…brilliant [or] talented” (55), the respect he has garnered within the industry is beyond evident (and enviable).

I loved this book. Really, really, REALLY loved it.

Medium Raw showcases how much Bourdain has grown up and changed—for the better. I love how he is unapologetic about his mistakes, but doesn’t want others to make the same mistakes he did—but he knows that mistakes are inevitable and isn’t judgey.

Each chapter easily can stand alone—there are actually two chapters that would be brilliant pairings with Fast Food Nation and Food Inc. (if I were to teach them again)—but Bourdain does drop the F-bomb many times! The anecdotes and descriptions and topics are EXTREMELY fun to read. One chapter he “hero-izes” and “villain-izes” different personalities in the industry, and I wish I could have seen some of the targets’ faces as they read what he wrote about them.

The best chapter by far is “My Aim is True.”

Bourdain writes of Justo Thomas’ skill in portioning and preparing fish for Le Bernardin as an awed and respectful reverie. Bourdain includes details of Thomas’ technique and persona that humanizes and incites equal worshipfulness for Thomas’ craft. Bourdaini is so moved by Thomas, he pulls strings with his friend (part-owner of Le Bernardin Eric Ripert) to break the “industry-wide policy” (248) and takes Thomas to lunch. Bourdain then melds descriptions of the courses presented in the tasting menu they selected, with the wine pairings and contrasts with Thomas’ reactions and Bourdain’s observations of this genius’s reactions to eating the food he is so skilled at readying.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this book. Read it. Read it now. But you can’t have my signed copy. It won’t leave my shelf. Except maybe for a re-read.

Melina Marchetta: Jellicoe Road

Since this book came out, I wanted to read it. I put it off, and then one of my amazing students did her soundtrack YA project on this book, but warned me that before I read the soundtrack I'd have to read the book so the spoilers wouldn't wreck it for me.
I read about 50 pages last night, and then picked it up at 3:30 today--I didn't put it down until I was done at 6:40. And I bawled the last 70 pages.
At first, this is really confusing and frustrating. I wanted to like it so much, but I couldn't wrap my head around the plot structure. Finally, after about 100 pages things began making sense--the separate but converging story lines, the multiple characters with unique double-names, and the Australian diction and setting were off-putting, but once I sorted things out (had to write names down to keep people straight initially), I couldn't disentangle myself from the book.
Yes, Taylor is a whiny teenager, but she is so much more complex than the ordinary teenage-girl-with-angst, and the story is SO RICH and well crafted!!!!
I haven't read anything like this book--maybe Weetzie Bat or The Body of Christopher Creed, but I feel so much more satisfied after finishing this book than I did with either of the others...
Just a really REALLY good read. Family, friendships, and mad-capped adventures of the warring factions of teenagers.

Carolyn Mackler: Vegan Virgin Valentine

I have wanted to read this since I finished The Earth, My Butt, And Other Big Round Things. Mackler's style is really appealing, and I read this in less than two hours. I like Mara and the transition and growth she experiences in the text is awesome. I don't know if "regular" kids could appreciate it as much as those students who are over-achievers in the way that Mara is, but the family dynamics, high school drama, love story are all really good selling points.
I am glad I read it.

Alexander McCall Smith: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

Well, it is a fast read. If you can get past the fact that it is a text written by a white guy in the voice of a pretty cool Botswana woman, then you will like this. The "cases" are cheesey, and there are many unanswered questions--I thought she didn't want to remarry;what happened to her baby; what does bush tea taste like...
But, it will be a very light-hearted discussion for book club. I just wish we could have read a pre-colonialism African perspective.

Daniel James Brown: The Indifferent Stars Above

So, I don't remember learning about the Donner party when I was in school. I am pretty sure I would never forget any mention of people eating people for survival, so I am sure it isn't that I have blocked those memories out.
I have vague recollections of some information that occurred west of the Mississippi, but very little. Moving out west has been very interesting for me on many levels--one of them includes the notion that this interesting conglomeration of different individuals who have converged in Portland, OR truly represent the spirit of the generations before them who searched for a better life.
So this book was for bookclub. I have been looking forward to reading it since I discovered it was about cannibalism, but the more I read into the book, the more frustrated I became. Because of my lack of knowledge of occurrences west of the Mississippi, I had no clue how to visualize the route these people took, or why they would even leave their Midwestern homes (ok, the weather is a darn good reason, but still...)--especially at the time of year they did--and on the misinformation they were presented. But they did. And it was bad. Really, really bad.
I became less frustrated with the book after I printed out some maps of their route to better visualize where they were and where they were camped. I also printed out a timeline, and wiki had a list of all the people who died, what they died from, and what happened to their bodies (i.e. cannibalized; left behind; buried in the snow, etc.).
Overall, this was a tolerable read. I did enjoy the author's melding of scientific definitions with the Donner Party's experiences (snow blindness, hide and die, PTSD, effects of starvation, hyper/hypo thermia, etc.), but there were many moments that weren't great. At one point Brown describes what one of the members of the doomed party would do if she were in New York at the time--like eating at nice restaurants or cooking this meal--really? No duh. And there was one flub that I can't get past--as Brown describes the history of cannibalism he states, "Neanderthals are believed to have chowed down on one another from time to time" (178 emphasis added). Seriously? Chowed down? Thoughout the text Brown remains pretty detached (until the Epilogue), and his diction is quite formal and scientific. This just killed it for me though. Yuk.
While this book is very depressing, it is a valuable text if one has no clue what happened with the Donner Party. Also, if you are fascinated with American history and the power of the human will to survive, this is a great book.
I'm still at the "eh" rating though...