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I’m really behind on book reviews.  To be honest, i only like writing reviews for books that really grabbed me, or where i had something to say.  So instead of full-blown reviews, i’m going to summarize thoughts from several books i’ve read over the last few months.

The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher Entertaining, light reading.  I have read the first two so far, and have books 3 & 4 ready and waiting.  It’s not my usual fare, and i probably won’t go much further than the four books i already have (i think there are 8-10 books so far).  Good stories, good monsters, thin characters, fairly predictable.

My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Piccoult Piccoult always throws a host of issues together in her books, and this was no exception.  The core issue is about a child who was conceived specifically to be a blood donor for her sick sister, who had been diagnosed with lieukemia at age four.  How far should that go?  Where do you draw the line on what you ask one child to do for another?  Do you even ask?

A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R. R. Martin (4+ book series) This is my favorite series of all time.  It’s epic fantasy, and the story is huge, complex, yet wonderfully interwoven.  The characters are all delicious shades of gray.  The setting is another world, 17th century-ish, with lords and ladies, kings and queens, the struggle for power, plots and intrigues, prophecy and fulfillment, swordfights and sex, and dragons.  It will be 7 books before it’s done.

Infected by Scott Sigler Recommended by a bridge buddy, this isn’t the kind of book i would normally pick up.  Think Invasion of the Body Snatchers mingled with Alien merged with Stephanie Meyer’s The Host.  It was a page-turner!

Kelsey on Squeeze Play by Hugh Kelsey This huge monstrosity is actually four books, and i made it through the first one, which is about simple squeezes, including the trump squeeze and criss-cross squeeze.  It is pretty fascinating stuff for me, since i eventually want to master all of it.  Luckily for me, there is more of this book to read.  Unluckily, there were only 20 quiz hands at the end of the section.

Are You There, God, It’s Me Margaret by Judy Blume When i was 11 read this book, it seemed deviant and wicked and mysterious.  I loved Margaret and thought she was my soul in print.  So i was surprised when i picked this book up again for book club and found it a flimsy, short book, and that the characters and plot really didn’t have much substance.  All the bits and pieces i remembered were there, but when i was young, i had projected so much meaning onto them!

A History of God by Karen Armstrong I only made it partially through this book.  It’s pretty dry.  There is some fascinating stuff in there, if you can get past the monotone writing.  Which i obviously can’t, since i have tried to read this book half a dozen times and always get bored.

Practical Magic, by Alice Hoffman I didn’t care for this book.  The characters weren’t deep, and morphed into each other at times.  Entertaining enough, i guess, but it’s not a book that kept me coming back for more.

The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss An amazing book.  This fits into the category of epic fantasy, and is a wonderful story of a magician’s young protoge.  Yet it’s so much more than that.  It’s the first of a series, and we don’t know how big this story will be.

The Book Thief was a beautiful story about a beautiful little girl with a beautiful heart.

Liesel is a young girl in Nazi Germany.  Her mother sends her and her brother to live with a foster family in the town of Molching.  On the way there, though, her brother dies.  At the funeral, Liesel steals her first book, The Gravedigger’s Handbook.  It is the first of several books that she steals in the course of her life.

Liesel’s new parents love her dearly, though they have different ways of expressing it.  Her Mama is always complaining about her, but her Papa sits up with her when she has nightmares and teaches her to read.  She develops the love of words that prompts her to steal more books.

When the Jewish son of one of Papa’s war buddies shows up on their doorstep, they take him in and hide him in their basement.  Liesel and Max form a strong bond, and at its core is a shared love of words.

One thing that makes this book interesting is that it is told from the point of view of Death, who reluctantly collects souls all around the globe as people die.  Death makes for an interesting narrator, and he’s always spoiling his own stories by telling you what’s going to happen before he gets around to that part of the story.

I bawled at least half a dozen times while reading The Book Thief.  It was very good, but in a way that makes your heart heavy.  I liked the portrayal of life for the common people in Nazi Germany.  The ones who don’t really hate anyone, but are forced to say certain things and act a certain way out of fear.  I’m glad i read it.

Our book club’s selection for February was To Kill a Mockingbird.  The first and only time i read this book was in middle school.  I remembered the name Boo Radley.  I remembered asking my dad what the phrase “Jem was four years my senior” meant, as my 11-year old self had never heard such fancy language.  (Dad wouldn’t tell me).  I remembered liking the book.  But that’s about all i remembered.

I liked the book this time, too.  A lot.  Jem and Scout’s adventures in Maycomb as they slowly grew up were fun to read about.  The courtroom scenes when Tom was on trial were as good as any of the modern courtroom thrillers.  And, look at how far we’ve come.  This setting was the 1930s, and a black man was convicted when he was obviously innocent, just because a white girl pointed a finger.  It may be fiction, but it is representative of the times.  80 years later, a black man is President of this country.

There were a lot of great quotes from this book.  But one that moved me was in the final few pages:

A boy trudged down the sidewalk dragging a fishing pole behind him. A man stood waiting with his hands on his hips. Summertime, and his children played in the front yard with their friend, enacting a strange little drama of their own invention. It was fall, and his children fought on the sidewalk in front of Mrs. Dubose’s. . . . Fall, and his children trotted to and fro around the corner, the day’s woes and triumphs on their faces. They stopped at an oak tree, delighted, puzzled, apprehensive. Winter, and his children shivered at the front gate, silhouetted against a blazing house. Winter, and a man walked into the street, dropped his glasses, and shot a dog. Summer, and he watched his children’s heart break. Autumn again, and Boo’s children needed him. Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.

It’s a defining moment for Scout.  Seeing something from aother’s perspective.  Losing some of her innocence.  But still having faith in people.

This book blew my socks off.

I feel like the first three books were just building the backstory for this incredible ending.  If you’ve read my reviews, you’ll know i didn’t care much for Eclipse, and New Moon left me feeling like i wouldn’t like how the story ended.

Ahem.  I absolutely loved how the story ended.

*** Spoilers below ***

More than that, the writing improved dramatically to my mind.  Bella GREW UP.  She was no longer the insecure teenager who “reasons” through everything in her head and comes to irrational conclusions.  And nothing in the story was predictable, as it had been in the earlier books.

The pregnancy, the switch to Jacob’s perspective, Jake’s imprinting, the turning of Bella as a necessity to save her life, the relationships between the werewolves and vampires, the confrontation with the Volturi… everything was just so extremely satisfying.  From now on i will recommend this series to others.  I may preface it with “just get through the first three books, and then the fun really begins!” but i will recommend it regardless.

Eclipse is the third installment of the Twilight series.   Spoilers will be included in this post.

As with the second book, New Moon, i was not too impressed with the writing.  I’m also not sure what the writer wants me as the reader to think.  Am i supposed to prefer Jacob to Edward?  Something tells me that no, i’m supposed to be in love with Edward like everyone else.  I think i’m supposed to get that the love she has for Edward is the forever kind of love, and her love for Jacob is just mortal.  But, as a reader, i am a bit more in love with Jacob at this point.  Is that what i’m supposed to feel?

Given the Jacob thing, I’m also not on board anymore that she should become a vampire.  From what i’ve heard and read, lots of people are waiting and hoping the Edward eventually makes her a vampire so they can be together forever and live happily ever after.  And i did want that for Bella after the first book.  But not anymore.  Now i think she should remain human.  Alas, at the end of Eclipse, while Bella is still human, the plans are all made for the marriage to Edward and the turning of Bella.

So, i’m confused.  I like Jacob better, but up til now the whole series has been about Bella and Edward.  And i do like Edward, i just think everyone would be better off if the girl remained human.  I’ll be extremely interested in how the story ends, but i’m not sure i’ll be happy about it.

If you haven’t seen Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture, you really should. It is a really good talk about how to get the most out of your life. His Time Management lecture is also excellent. Randy was a professor at Carnegie Melon University before he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2006. He died in July 2008.

The book i am reviewing now is an extension of The Last Lecture talk that he gave. Many of the stories he told and lessons he learned are repeated in the book. However, the book gives a few further insights.

In the beginning of the book, I was mad at Randy for doing the lecture in the first place, much less also writing a book about it. I thought, shouldn’t he be spending this time with his family instead of taking extra time preparing for a speech? However, i quickly forgave him. The lessons he teaches are too good, and i see that it is also one of the best things he could have done for his three small children.

I cried so many times while reading this book.  Randy Pausch finds life lessons in everyday things, and always has an upbeat attitude, even in the face of a disease that he knows will take his life.  It’s an amazing story - read it or watch it if you haven’t yet had the chance.

There WILL be spoilers in this post, so to my friends whom i know have not yet read New Moon, stop reading now.

I was fairly disappointed by this book.  I felt like the first book, Twilight, had really captured the essence of what it felt like to be an insecure 17 year old.  Of what it is like to fall in love with a person who is all wrong for you.

First of all, there was not nearly enough of Edward.

Secondly, Bella as a depressed teenager did not feel realistic to me.  And was boring.

Thirdly, the werewolf thing was completely predictable.

Fourthly, Bella is just not all that bright.  Stupidity in my heroines is a turnoff for me.  While 18 years of age is not the epitome of maturity, i expected a little more from her.

Fifthly, sometimes the writing got on my nerves as too simplistic.  It made me thankful that i read Meyer’s The Host first, because the writing style is definitely more mature.  I suppose the intended audience may be different, but it may have affected my decision to read The Host.  Which would have been unfortunate, b/c that truly was one of my best reads of the year.

The werewolf thing in general was pretty cool.  I also liked the werewolf-vampire animosity and tension it caused for Bella.  And the visit to the Volturi was spooky and cool.

Despite not loving this book, i will be interested to find out more about what happens to Bella and Edward in the next book.  I’m just hoping the content matures a little bit.

The Red Tent is our book club selection for Nov/Dec. I once owned this book, and couldn’t find the motivation to read it. So during one of my declutter phases, it got donated, along with other books, to charity. When our book club chose this book as a selection, i checked it out from the library.

I still didn’t want to read it, and it sat on my kitchen table for over a week. I knew that it was about a woman who is mentioned in the Bible for like two sentences. And all i could think was “Ew, Bible times, i don’t want to read about that.”

When i finally picked it up, however, i was immediately drawn in by the author’s tone. This was a time when women had a world unto themselves. They had their own lives, separate from the men, and their own secrets. And Dinah offers to share their secrets with us.

Dinah is the only daughter among Jacob’s thirteen children. This is the same Jacob, son of Isaac, grandson of Abraham, who stole his brother’s birthright and his father’s blessing. Jacob later changed his name to Israel. Jacob’s twelve sons represent the twelve tribes of Israel. His son Joseph is he of the multi-colored cloak.

Dinah’s story is set against this backdrop. Familiar events from the Bible occur, but the story is the story of many women. Dinah learns the stories of her four mothers, Jacob’s four wives. She learns the stories of other women in the community, and learns to become a midwife. She learns the mysteries of the red tent, which is where the women retire for three days during their menstrual cycles. She eventually has her own child and learns the mysteries of being a mother.

I like stories that have strong female characters, and this one has many. I also like stories that challenge what we know. This story challenges the only sentence in the Bible that mentions Dinah, that she was raped by a prince. This story suggests that Dinah and the prince fell in love, and that her father and brothers were too proud and stupid to accept it.

Indeed, the story of Jacob and the slaughter of the men of the city of Shechem horrified me. Jacob and his sons agreed to marry Dinah to the royal family if all the men of the city would be circumcised. Seriously? If you want to marry my daughter, you must convince every man to undergo genital mutilation. And they did! And then, after all the men had undergone the surgery and were at their weakest, two of Jacob’s sons went through the town and killed all the men and stole all the women and livestock. Behold, God’s Chosen People!

Despite my reactions to the Biblical part of the story, the tale of Dinah is captivating. Most of the challenges the women face are completely different than the ones we face today. Yet one thing we do have in common with them - childbirth. I spoke to one pregnant friend who is also reading it, who said “The book made me glad i get to have my baby during modern times, with doctors and hospitals.” I totally agree!

When You are Engulfed in Flames was my book club’s choice for September, and i only recently got around to finishing it. It was in high demand at the library.

I read Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim before i read this latest book, and i liked the earlier book much better. I liked reading about his youth in NC and about his family. Flames is primarily about Sedaris’ adult life living in France. It was still good, and the stories were still interesting; they just did not capture me the way Dress Your Family did.

I did get a very large kick out of the chapter where he was mistaken for an exotic house cleaner, and also the chapter about April the spider.

I may pick up another of Sedaris’ books one day, but i’m going to take a break from him for awhile.

The Host was my book club’s selection for October.  I don’t think i’ve ever read that much book in so little time.  I read 4 or 5 chapters last Saturday morning, and the rest of the 600+ pages the following day.  I was riveted.

The “host” mentioned in the title is the body of Melanie Stryder.  She is human, but her body has been taken over by an alien parasite.  This parasite goes by the name of Wanderer, and she refers to her species as “souls”.  The souls have taken control of the large majority of human bodies on Earth, not to mention many other worlds where life has evolved.

But Melanie is not entirely gone.  Her mind is still active, and she struggles for control of her body and her life.  Melanie’s human emotions overwhelm Wanderer, who finds herself in love with Melanie’s memories of Jared (Melanie’s lover) and Jamie (Melanie’s brother).  Somehow, Melanie convinces Wanderer to go in search of her Uncle Jeb, who foresaw the invasion and prepared a cavern in the desert in which to hide.  Melanie and Wanderer find the hiding place, and a small pocket of human rebels.  Among them, amazingly, are Jared and Jamie.

The rebels don’t trust Wanderer, as they know she is a parasite and not fully human.  Half of them want to kill her, and the others are not sure.  As she resides with them in captivity, she develops relationships with those who live there.  Most of them learn to accept her, and some even love her, for who she is, even though she is an alien.

It is an absolutely beautiful story.  It causes the reader to question, what is human?  What is a soul?  Meyer absolutely mesmerized me with her depiction of human emotion, and above all, love.  I was extremely sad when i had to leave this world and these characters.  The Host was one of my all-time favorite reads.

I have since heard the Stephanie Meyer has a series of books called The Twilight Saga.  I understand it is directed toward the teenage girl demographic, but i’ve also read that it has captured the hearts of women of all ages.  After The Host, I am eager to read more of Meyer’s work.