2006

And Yet….

5 Comments / 2006, Books in Bed, Favorites, Non-Fiction, Religion /

And yet… that’s a good phrase, I like it. I think I’ve always liked it but never used it much. After last night it’s likely “And yet…” will become one of those family phrases, like the ones I blogged about last month.

This entry about Elie Wiesel is difficult. I could talk about Oprah. I could talk about Night. I could talk about disinterest. I could talk about hate. I could talk about education. But where to start, how to start? It’s difficult, and yet, it isn’t.

When Oprah announced Night would be her next book club choice and would also be her High School Essay selection I changed Michelle’s reading schedule and I did the thing I always gripe about people doing – I bought the book. Because Oprah said to. And I hated doing it but I really was impressed with the selection, for the essay contest in particular. Even if homeschoolers were not eligible to enter, I felt like it was a good valid selection and important for Michelle to read – because of the book itself and because hundreds of thousands of high schoolers would be reading it. They would have this experience and I think it will be important that Michelle have some of the same types of experiences. So, I bought an Oprah book because Oprah said to do it. Blah.

Michelle started reading it. She got about halfway through it before TW and I had even made it to the German occupation of Sighet, on audio. Michelle’s birthday weekend in Atlanta arrived and we all started over at the beginning and listened to the first 3 hours on audio. iRiver malfunction left us wondering what happens next…. Michelle finished reading, I finished listening and TW has not yet finished (my fault for listening without her).

Oprah is right, everyone should read Night. Actually let me change that. I think everyone should listen to it on audio. The voice was not Elie Wiesel’s voice, but it could have been. I don’t generally feel that way about audio books, I enjoy them but I enjoy reading the actual words myself more. I think in this cause, the audio made the story stronger, maybe stronger isn’t the right word. It’s already a strong book, how could it not be? The voice reading the book, made it harder to detach.

Seeing Elie Wiesel last night at UF did so as well.

He didn’t talk about Night, the writing of it or his experience in the Holocaust in any real detail. But as he spoke about hatred, about politics, about religious history and religious differences it seemed impossible to put Night or the Holocaust away. When I looked at Elie Wiesel or listened to him (because the nonstop flashes from the cameras made it difficult to look at him) his history is there. It’s difficult to describe.

Things that stuck with me after last night’s talk… Disinterest is the opposite of just about everything… Fanaticism could be the biggest issue we face in this century… Education isn’t just in the classroom. Education is reading everything – books, magazines, internet. It’s talking to friends and coworkers and acquaintances and listening to them. It’s sharing of ideas and experiences. It’s watching television and movies and not just the news. Education is sensitizing yourself so you are better able to understand other people, other ideas, other feelings… Elie didn’t tell his publisher he was being interviewed by Oprah 10 years ago and his publisher was mad. He didn’t understand. This year, Oprah told people to read his book and it sold millions, he understands now…

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Minivans – Bad!

2006, Books in Bed, Mystery /

For Whom the Minivan Rolls was funny! Really funny actually. Maybe it’s just me though, has anyone (besides TW) read it? Work from home dad who is a freelance writer. Special needs son. Cute daughter. Sexy lawyer wife. Small somewhat snobby NJ town. And all of a sudden someone wants him to be a detective and find a missing wife? Ha, funny!

I’d almost suggest this as a beach read, even though I don’t really understand that phrase very well. I don’t read at the beach, maybe that’s why I don’t understand it? If you’re looking for a funny mystery with twists and turns that while predictable in places are still a wee bit quirky then this is a good one. Sort of like Dexter but without the blood and gore and stuff – almost spoofy. I think if you’ve read Dexter, you’ll understand what I mean. If you haven’t read Dexter, well do that and then read Minivan!

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Ourland

2006, Books in Bed, Feminism, Fiction, GLBT /

Ack! I should have stuck with not reading the sequel to Herland because With Her in Ourland was a disappointment. Boring, boring, boring – but that’s what Michelle said about Herland… I wonder if she would like Ourland better?

I didn’t really need to look at “our” history through the eyes of a Herlander – or her husband’s eyes, for that matter. I already Blame the Patriarchy for everything as it is. Well there are some things I do blame my mom for, but those tend to be familial issues and running over dogs and stuff like that.

Blah!

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Haven Kimmel – a blogger?

2006, Books in Bed, Non-Fiction /

We read Haven Kimmel’s A Girl Named Zippy last year and we really liked it. So, when we saw her newest book on the shelves awhile back I reserved it at the library. I picked it up. TW read it and didn’t say much about it. I picked it up and read the intro and realized I couldn’t actually remember much about A Girl Named Zippy. Which led me to wonder why I was reading “She Got Up Off the Couch”. Maybe we didn’t like Zippy as much as we remembered?

As I read, I realized I remembered more about Zippy than I first thought. I also think that the reason I didn’t remember more at first is because Kimmel’s books read like blog entries. They do. They’re short, though most are longer than the average blog post. They read like a blogger who is sharing a family story and jazzing it up to make readers laugh. Simple and funny family stories that any of us could tell (and often do). Not that blog entries are forgettable. That’s not what I mean. It’s just that there are so many. And a story from Zippy or Up Off the Couch could have been written by a zillion bloggers – feels like it has been and those stories sometimes blend together. Bits and pieces come back to you now and again but they’re a little blurry and you have to stop and think… was that Mir’s family? or was it Jenny’s? or maybe my own?

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Rococo

2006, Books in Bed, Fiction /

I finally finally finally finished Rococo. I didn’t think I’d make it. I almost put it in the “to be returned to the library” stack unfinished. I stuck with it because TW said she liked it. I stuck with it because I have always enjoyed Adriana Trigiani’s books. I stuck with it because surely it would get better.

And it did. Eventually. Sort of.

I think the male lead character was the problem. I love Trigiani’s female characters but I did not love the male lead. Toot – loved her! Chris and Amalah – loved them. Capri and Aurelia – loved them. Eydie – loved her and would love to date her (well I would if I wasn’t in a relationship). Bartolomeo (lead character)- didn’t love him, didn’t care a thing about him. The supporting male characters – loved them, too. The main character, ummm, no. Boring.

One other problem – I’m having issues with ottomans now. They seem to be everywhere. How did that happen? Were they always there and I just never noticed before The House of B and his ottoman fetish?

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Atwood!

2 Comments / 2006, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, short stories /

Sassymonkey is awesome! She sent us a video for Michelle (whic is on the lesson plans for Tuesday) and along with it she sent us an autographed copy of Margaret Atwood’s The Tent! I was seriously surprised. I mean I knew she was going to send the video, which was terrific but I had no idea she was going to send the book. She totally made my day.

What makes the surprisey gift so much better is that I really enjoyed the stories. The stories are very very short, just a few pages each, which makes it quick and easy to read in small bits throughout the day. And the stories were just a little “odd” but not too “odd”. Some sounded very “Atwood-like” and others not so much. Almost all of them made me smile. The drawings were a nice inclusion to the book, too.

While I liked them all, I really enjoyed “” (Like God, I like a balanced Heaven) and “Chicken Little Goes Too Far” (I umm am a Chicken Little fan, shhh don’t tell anyone).
Thank you sassymonkey, you’re the BEST!

If you clicked the link to sassymonkey, you’ll see her review of seeing Atwood in person recently – what’s funny about this is that I tried desperately to get The Penelopiad to her before Christmas, when her package was lost, and damn Chapters couldn’t guarantee it in time so I cancelled it in favor of a snack basket that promised before Christmas arrival and ended up not getting there in time. I knew I should have stuck with the book!

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Devil’s Picnic – No Picnic

2006, Books in Bed, Don't Read This, Non-Fiction /

Unfortunately the Devil’s Picnic was no picnic – it was boring. Too bad because the idea seemed like a good one. Head off to countries all over the world and talk to people about banned substances and buy/acquire said substances. Cool idea, right? Follow through stunk. Ho-hum. Boring. Most interesting part was going into Singapore and taking banned substances in – chewing gum, poppy seed crackers. Funny. The rest, don’t waste your time.

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Email Murders

2006, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Mystery /

I spend a lot of time searching for audio books for children and young adults. Prince J prefers to listen to books rather than read them and E just plain likes them. RJ use to complain about E’s book listening when they shared a room but she quickly began to complain that she didn’t have a CD player on which to listen to audio books! (We’ve solved that, after letting her stew over it for awhile and reminding her of how often she complained about E’s audio books.)

The Email Murders was one such audio book picked up at the library a few weeks ago. I didn’t know anything about it or about P.C. Hawke mysteries. I just knew the author Paul Zindel and figured it was worth a shot.

I put the first cd into the cd player in the car a couple of weeks ago and we all started listening as we drove to church. And then we never pushed play on the cd player again. Forgot all about it. Til yesterday on the drive home from Atlanta when I discovered the iRiver had not charged fully and we were out of power.

I pushed play and the Email Murders began. It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t great either, though. I probably won’t bother tracking down any other P.C. Hawke mysteries and I probably won’t send it upstairs for the kids to listen to either. I don’t think they’ll like it much. Not “kid like” enough for them. And not adult either. Sort of an adult mystery trying too hard to be for kids. Something gets lost in all of the trying.

I was glad the book was still in the car yesterday, though. It was a nice way to spend a few hours of the drive home.

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Clearcut

2006, Books in Bed, GLBT /

I’m going to go on the record with this once more, because it’s been quite some time since I’ve needed to say it. Which is good because I use to have to say it everyday, back when that “curious” board still existed.

Threesomes are a bad idea

There, I said it. Again. Too bad Early, Zan and Reed did not ask my advice before the entered into that madness. But then again, if they had listened to me would Early have learned all of those great lessons? Not that those lessons did a whole lot of good for Zan or for Reed. But hey, one person came out of it bruised and battered but wiser than when he started, right? 1 out of 3, that’s not so bad, right?

I had trouble sticking with this one. Probably because I knew it was going to be a threesome thing and I knew that meant trouble. I wasn’t really in the mood for trouble. So, it took me a full week to read the first 133 pages. Then it took me a full day to read the last 150. Once I resigned myself to the trouble, it wasn’t a bad book. A little predictable (Threesomes are a bad idea, folks) but unusual in the setting and the characters. Though I suppose since we’ve got gay cowboys, gay logging guys shouldn’t feel that unusual should they. Oops, bisexual. Err ummm, polyamorous? Nah, if it had been polyamory it wouldn’t have ended as badly. Or maybe it would have. I don’t know. I don’t generally give advice about polyamorous relationships. Threesomes, I can advise on. Polyamory, not so much.

If you’re interested in a love triangle/sex triangle (M, M, F) with some interesting people (Though it would have been nice if Zan and Reed had been given more depth but what can you ask for in a book this short?) then Clearcut is your book. If you’re not into it, well I can’t blame you, because threesomes are trouble!

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Breakfast With Michelle

5 Comments / 2006, Books in Bed, Favorites, GLBT, Non-Fiction /

Oops, sorry! That should be Breakfast With Tiffany but Tiffany is a mirror image of our Michelle and it very quickly became difficult to separate the two. Tiffany is very real and very honest. I don’t think Mr Winty exaggerated in the least when sharing her with us. I do wonder if he hasn’t just been spying on us and used Michelle as a model for Tiffany. I mean seriously folks, if you want to know what my almost 16 year old daughter is like and what we have lived with everyday since she hit pre-teenhood then this is the book for you.

This is probably the book for you even if you don’t care one iota about our lives and our Michelle because teen girls are everywhere! They aren’t all like Tiffany and Michelle but you would be surprised by how many ARE very much like this. Knowledge is power, ladies and gentlemen. The more you know about how these fascinating creatures think, the safer you are.

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