What I read in April...

1. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
2. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
3. Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
4. Dark Testament and Other Poems by Pauli Murray 
5. Finders Keepers by Karin Kallmaker 
6. The Orange Girl by Jostein Gaarder 
7. The Chosen by Chaim Potok
8. Serena by Ron Rash
9. Look Again by Lisa Scottoline 
10. Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
11. On Writing by Stephen King
12. Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters by Chesley B. Sullenberger
13. Song Yet Sung by James McBride
14. Just Hospitality by Letty Russell 
15. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer 
16. Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics by Margaret Farley 
17. Church in the Round: Feminist Interpretation of Church by Letty Russell 


I had a big reading month in the beginning of April. Then towards the end the semester came to a close and final papers and exams arrived. I haven't had time to read anything for fun in a few days.

Flash Back Friday: The Baby-Sitters Club...

Flashback Friday is a chance to showcase books that you loved as a kid or teenager and is hosted over at Lovely Little Shelf.

Every Friday we’ll post about the books that we loved.  Do this however you want.  You can outline the plot as you remember it, tell why you remember this particular book, talk about how it is still affecting you, whatever you want.  This part is totally up to you. Feel free to nab the little guy up top and put him at the top of your blog post.

Oh, how I loved the baby-sitters club when I was in elementary school. I was reminded of this love recently when I discovered Ann Martin recently released a prequel, aka a brand new Baby-Sitters Club book! I was nearly delirious with excitement and joy and immediately went to Amazon to make my purchase (much to the amusement of my husband).I then did my part in educating every single person I ran into, "Hey did you know there's a new baby-sitters club book?" (FYI when telling this to people in their late 20's and 30's the reactions are incredibly varied).

I think I was so excited about the new book because it immediately brought back a flood of memories. My love of reading all the books. The T.V. show, playing pretend with my sisters and putting on plays where we created and reenacted our own baby-sitters club meetings. I was struck by just how much these books were part of my childhood. I so hope my children will love to read so one day when they're all grown up they'll see a book from their past and  be reminded of a different time when anything was possible and the world was full of make believe and possibilities. (The truly ironic thing about my love of the BSC books is I hated baby-sitting. I had no problem reading about it and holding fake meetings, but I had no desire to actually do it).

I've been reading the new BSC club book out loud to my 1 year old twins, again to the amusement of my husband. I'll start them young and then they'll have to love books right?

It occurred to me recently...

that in order to graduate with my masters degree I'm going to have to return all of my library books. I'm pretty sure withholding ones diploma is a measure they're willing to take in order to ensure all books are safely back where they belong. There's just one problem, I don't want to. I still have 5 that I haven't yet finished (because things like final papers and exams keep getting in the way of reading for pleasure).

• Empire Falls by Richard Russo
• Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro
• Long Walk to Freedom The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela
• The Works of H.G. Wells (The Invisible Man, War of the Worlds, A Dream of Armageddon)
• The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

And then there are the books that I have finished reading but I don't want to give back because they look like this:

Filled with post-it notes marking quotes, thoughts, and other sections I want to go back to. These books include:

• On Writing by Stephen King
• Notebooks by Tennessee Williams (a collection of all his personal journals). 

Three final papers and an exam away from the freedom to read swiftly through my remaining library books before graduation in May. Ready, set, here I go.

BTT: Restrictions...

 God* comes to you and tells you that, from this day forward, you may only read ONE type of book–one genre–period, but you get to choose what it is. Classics, Science-Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Cookbooks, History, Business … you can choose, but you only get ONE. What genre do you pick, and why?

*Whether you believe in God or not, pretend for the purposes of this discussion that [God] is real.

My first instinct on this question was biography/memoir which is by far my favorite, but as much as I love biographies many of them follow similar patterns, even if the lives and stories are very different.

Then as I thought about it even more a lifetime of one genre is incredibly tragic and I would be pretty upset with God for even requesting such a thing. Come one God, what a strange thing to require. Although I suppose it's not quite as crazy as say requesting the sacrifice of a child or something, but still... 

Anyways, back on topic. Because it's a lifetime I suppose I would just choose general fiction because it offers the greatest variety in stories, authors, themes, etc. In the bookstore this section is usually among the largest, offering the widest variety of options to keep me satisfied for a lifetime (I hope).

*Dear God, please never ever request such a crazy thing.* Amen

Review: Song Yet Sung by James McBride

The Book: Song Yet Sung by James McBride author of the The Color of Water is the story of Liz Spocott a young runaway slave. Liz known as "the dreamer" because of her constant dreams of the future, accidently leads a breakout from slave thief Patty Cannon. Alone in the Wilderness of Maryland Liz learns "the code" and begins her perilous journey of survival, as she attempts to out run slave catchers and seeks help and refuge from unlikely sources along the way using "the code" as a means of communication and survival as she moves along the intricate web of the underground railroad. 


I picked this book because of my interest in the history of slavery and the underground railroad. According to McBride Song Yet Sung is a work inspired by the life of Harriet Tubman and questions surrounding the mystery of how exactly the underground railroad worked. What resulted from those questions are this book where McBride creates a fascinating and subtle means of communication for slaves to speak to one another without words.


What I thought: I had a hard time getting into this book. It took me about 50 pages before I felt fully involved and connected to the story. A lot of the opening pages were confusing for me to understand and I often would read a chapter and then stop for the night. That said I'm so glad I hung in there because once the background pieces were in place I couldn't get enough of the book. The confusing and nonsensical uttering of an old woman to runaway Liz, suddenly came alive and made sense as the narrative unfolded. 


One of the greatest things about this book is the language. McBride has a way with words and throughout the book with simple dialogue and his use of prose gets at the complicated feelings and emotions for those on all sides of slavery. The  naming of white privilege, "Amber loved him for that, his innocent, his purity and wondering. The boy was still years away from learning the arrogance and impudence of being white. That would come soon enough" (122). 
The dehumanizing effects of slavery on the lives of the many men and women, "It's me. I ain't never going to be the man I should be because of how I'm born. When you're born as another man's property, you're raised to that. And whatever you think of yourself, you always come back to how the white man see you" (203). 


The complicated emotions on the part of some of the slave owners and slave catchers. and the importance or God, faith and religion in lives of many slaves.
-But I don't know who I am.
-Well, there it is, he said ruefully. That's a problem, ain't it. If you don't know who you are, child, I'll tell you: you's a child of God
-With all I seen, I don't know that I believe in God anymore, she said.
-Don't matter, the old man said. He believe in you. (283).


McBride captures all of this and more throughout the narrative. I especially loved the ending of the book. The ways in which visions of the future and those Liz encounters along the way come full circle. That piece of the book made it even better. A brilliant book.


Rating: A+ 
Although it was a slow start the rest of the book more than makes up for it, especially since the beginning pieces are so necessary for understanding the rest of the book. I can't recommend this book enough. If for nothing else the compelling language and emotions that truly get at the complexity of race relations throughout our American history and our present day. 

Musing Mondays: War Books...

 

Musing Mondays is hosted by Just one More Page and today's questions is about war books. Am I reader of war books? My first instinct was no I don't, but as I started to scan by book shelves I realized that a flat out no was not a sufficiently accurate answer.   I think the last book I read about war was Upon the Altar of the Nation: A Moral History of the Civil War by Harry S. Stout (one of my professors). I read it for my Religion in American Society class in the fall of 2007 and the book was fabulous. It offered a different perspective on the Civil war, engaging the war from a moral perspective looking at the role of religion and God for both sides during the war.

Aside from the non-fiction genre like the book above I do have a tendency to read a lot of historical fiction that take place during WWII, like The Book Thief and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas etc., as well as the historical fiction set during the Civil War that look at slavery and racial tensions of that time, and the time immediately following.

I don't often read war books that are set on the front lines and are about the perspectives of the soldiers like The Pacific, (also an HBO show that my husband is obsessed with) or All Quiet on the Western Front (which I read many years ago in junior high). But I do enjoy well written non-fictional accounts of war as well as fictional books that are set during wars that allow a look inside the thoughts and lives of those who experienced those conflicts first hand.

That's my big messy answer. Which is far more complicated than my initial, "no".

Used Book Sale...

A few weeks ago I received an email announcing an annual used book sale sponsored by a church in a nearby town. I promptly wrote down the date, time, and directions to the church not knowing what to expect. I only hoped there would be a few books of my liking.

This sale was beyond what I could have imagined. I stepped into the church basement and saw this...

Tables and tables...

Full of books.

I only brought $20 in cash with me (as a means of self control) and I happily shopped for well over an hour and ended up with: 

• Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
• Summer of '49 by David Halberstam
• She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
• A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
• The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus 
• Underworld by Don DeLillo
• The Women Who Raised me by Victoria Rowell
• Morrie: In His Own Words by Morrie Schwartz 
• Atonement by Ian McEwan
• Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult 
• Midwives by Chris Bohjalian
• Run by Ann Patchett
• By the Time You Read This by Lola Jaye
• Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox
• The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
• The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory 

Total Spent: $19