Category: Books

My pledge to read about 70 books and no more is not going to work if I keep finding excellent young adult fiction. Young adult fiction these days is well written, interesting and tends to come in series. I can also read it even faster than “normal” books. Do you want to read more good books without putting in more effort than you do slogging through “grown up” books? Check out some of today’s excellent YA authors. Your local children/youth librarian will be happy to point you in a direction. Or you can try some of the books below.

Finished
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Shakespeare
Yep. Read it. Yep. Enjoyed it more as a play. Yep. That’s how it is going to be with this project.

Incarceron
Catherine Fisher
Read for Mock Printz Workshop.

This book contains a great concept: that the prison is alive. This was my second most enjoyed Mock Printz book, though my sentiments were not shared by very many of the workshop participants. Aside from the interesting premise, I also liked that the entire book kept the main characters apart, while still building tension. The ending I did not like as it was clearly a set up for a sequel. My rule is that if there is going to be a series/sequel, it should be a happy surprise, not clearly obvious by the last page of the book.

Ines of My Soul
Isabel Allende
I did not like this book very much and only finished it because it was a book group book. My problems were twofold: First, the conquistadors were incredibly awful people and the book was very violent in disturbing ways that made my want to stop reading. Secondly, I find Allende’s prose rather dense, so I couldn’t just skim though it.

I did enjoy the main character and the fate of a minor character. As I journeyed along the bloody road with Ines, I gradually grew desensitized to the violence. It was much like the movie Fargo. Once I got to the wood chipper scene in that movie I laughed.

In the book group discussion, parallels were drawn between Allende and the main character.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Jonathan Safer Foer
If Dave Eggers handn’t already stolen the description for his novel, I would say this book is a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. After finishing this–the second time through for me–I just sat for awhile, holding the book in my hands. For such a quick and funny read, this is a weighty tome. But while the subject matter gives me “heavy boots” my love for the character can’t help but buoy me.

4th Period English
Judith Arcana
I tripped across this chapbook of poetry while browsing through the library catalog and I picked it for its title. Who wouldn’t? This was a fabulous book of poems from the point of view of people in a multicultural English class. The voices were very different, and held forth on their opinions in a delightful fashion.

The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins
I’m always looking for superhero stories that happen to have girls as the main superhero and I’m happy to report that this book provided me with one. And not just a run-of-the-mill “Green Hornet” type superhero, Katness Everdeen is kind of a Batman of her world. But a Batman with less angst and more questioning And no money. I guess that would make her like a young Spiderman. But without the super powers. Whatever. She’s great. This book has 300 holds at the library even though it was published over two years ago and I can see why. It’s got a great distopian setting, a scrappy main character, several moral quandaries, two love interests and a writing style that kept me reading. It’s one of those books where you better set aside some time to read it because you may be neglecting your chores once you begin.

The Spell Book of Listen Taylor
Jaclyn Moriarty
For most of this book, I was confused as to what was going on. I followed the story well, but couldn’t see why the characters were doing what they were doing. After about 50 pages, I gave up trying to figure it out and just sat back and enjoyed what was going on. There are nice sketches of adults in relationships making bad choices and how it affects the children around them. Also, a compelling portrait of a girl isolated by her former friends. In that way, I found this more adult than Moriarty’s other Young Adult books. Everything is knit together at the end, but I was left with a perplexed feeling. It all seems to have turned out okay, but was it really okay?

Also, this book is funny, as in snort-on-public-transportation, or suddenly-let-out-a-shriek-of-laughter type of funny.

Catching Fire
Suzanne Collins
The second book in the Hunger Games series, I read this one faster than the first one. We rejoin our heroine to find that what saved her in the last book has multiplied her problems in this one. Excellent commentary on media packaging as well as exploration of impossible situations. One thing I like about Collins is that I am always surprised as to what happens. More than once in this book I thought, “Huh. I wasn’t expecting that.”

Started, but did not finish
Tales of the Madmen Underground
This came highly recommended from two people, but I couldn’t get past the mother of the main character hording cats. So back it went.

It’s the annual “Best Books” Awards.

People, I read a lot of book in 2010. And, looking over the awards, I see that I read a lot of really good books this year. So this post is a bit long. You may want to make yourself a cup of tea and settle in.

The awards committee has met and has recognized the following:

I read 97 books this year. Next year, if all goes according to plan, this list will be shorter because one of my goals is to read fewer books. I’m aiming for about 70 or so.

A lucky 13 books read this month, due mostly to Mock-Printz reading. Though the Ashbury/Brookfield novels (Feeling Sorry for Celia, The Year of Secret Assignments, The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie & The Ghosts of Ashbury Hall) also took up a good bit of my time. Once I got going with that series, I just couldn’t stop. Overall, it was a very good month for reading.

Read
The Year of Secret Assignments
Jaclyn Moriarty
Delightful! The pen pal exercise continues another year with a trio of best friends from Ashbury. They happen to end up with boy pen pals from Brookfield and the games begin. This book had me blurting out a chuckle now and then and nicely captures young love.

The main characters also casually drink without consequence. I’ve not really encountered that before in YA books. I grew up in the “drink and drive once and lose an arm” and “have sex once and get pregnant” era of YA storytelling. I think their drinking, which is supported by their parents, is very true-to-life, but it was still odd for me to encounter.

The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie
Jaclyn Moriarty
I may be over identifying a tad, but I think Bindy Mackenzie is perhaps the most lively character in a book I’ve read this year and I fell completely in love with her. She is smart as a whip and entirely clueless as to why her actions anger and annoy people. The teacher in me kept thinking, “Oh Bindy! How could you?” while the straight-laced high school me hearkened back to my own slightly alienating teenage choices. She wants to help, but her helping comes from the wrong place, like when she first sends notes to some of her classmates telling them they are certain poison animals. Her intent is to be mean to them and show them what they really are. I’m sure her meanness went right over their head. Later, to make amends, she writes notes recasting those same classmates as more noble animals, which also went right over their heads.

Through her diaries, transcriptions and various reports we see what shaped Bindy and the various forces acting around her for this difficult year. There is a mystery, but it isn’t the best part. The best part is watching Bindy navigate through her year. Characters from the previous two books appear, which is quite fun.

As Easy as Falling off the Face of the Earth
Lynne Rae Perkins
Read for Mock Printz.

This author, so the book cover tells me, is also an illustrator, and her prose is very painterly in its descriptions like this one about a car windshield: “The sediment of dirt deposited evenly across the windshield, punctuated by the dried fluff of unfortunate insects, glowed incandescent in the sunlight. It was like trying to see through dandelion fluff.”

I found that I spent a lot of time suspending disbelief during the story which was quite distracting. I was on board (hah!) with him getting left behind by the train and walking to town, but after that it all seemed a bit convenient for the narrative. Still, the author introduces a lot of interesting people along the journey, sort of like meeting all those Texans in No Country for Old Men. So I didn’t love this book, but after I suspended disbelief, I enjoyed the journey.

Spies of Mississippi
Rick Bowers
Read for Mock Printz.

A very brief history of a dark time in US History. The book traces the creation and activities of a state-sponsored agency created to spy on and defeat any integration or Civil Rights efforts in the state of Mississippi. I was about halfway through when the facts of the book suddenly hit me. Wow! The state of Mississippi set up and recruited spies as well as investigated people who had not committed any crime. They then attempted to discredit these people in any way possible. Holy Crap! The fact that some of the people who worked for the commission are still living makes it even more remarkable.

The book is perfect for young adult readers, hitting on the horrors of the Jim Crow/Civil Rights era without being too graphic. For example, it describes in pretty clear detail the beating that a civil rights worker received, but when discussing the murders of the three civil rights workers it only mentions the burned out car and the fact their bodies were found buried in an earthen dam. It does not go into details of how they were killed.

The Ghosts of Ashbury Hall
Jaclyn Moriarty
Like the three before it, a funny and gripping account of a year at Ashbury. The narrative structure is stretched a little thin with this book, but it is still enjoyable. This time two new students arrive at Ashbury. They are quite mysterious. Also, there also might be a ghost haunting the school. Characters from previous books have returned and it is good to check in with them. I really love the Lydia character and I wouldn’t mind reading another book about her college experience.

Fever Crumb
Philip Reeve
Read for Mock Printz.

Set in a steampunk-inspired future London this follows the journey of Fever Crumb, an orphan found and raised by the order of Engineers. They have raised her in their rational ways, so she is not your ordinary fourteen year old.

The writing was great in that I could see future London quite clearly and follow along as Fever makes her way from the orderly world of the Engineers into the household of an “archeologist.” Her rational responses to the children in the household were amusing and I was quite delighted to see that in this future the word “blog” has emerged as a swear word.

Overall, a well done “finding ones identity” sort of novel with a lot of fun details thrown in.

Revolver
Marcus Sedgwick
Read for Mock-Printz

Solid tale set during gold rush times in the Arctic Circle. I didn’t love it, but would recommend it to an outdoorsy, possibly reluctant, fourteen year old reader.

True Grit
Charles Portis
Fabulous narration and dialogue that qualifies as “a hoot.” One of the better teenaged female characters I’ve read in ages.

Finnikin of the Rock
Marlena Marchetta
I really loved the journey these characters went on and got wrapped up in their world. Excellent strong female character.

100 Essential Modern Poems by Women
Parisi & Weston
I thought I wanted more information about the authors of the poems I read, but this book has a few pages of information and only two or three poems. It would be great to have a summary paragraph or two and then more poems, or even the current amount of biographical information and then many more poems. Overall, a nice list.

The Prince of Thieves
Chuck Hogan
I prefer to read the book and then watch the movie, but sometimes when watching a movie my favorite title credit will flash onto the screen: Based on a the book ABC by 123. “There’s a book?” I always silently exclaim. If I like the movie–and sometimes if I don’t like the movie, (ahem Sideways)–I’ll seek out the book.

I expected to like the movie the Town in a “wow, this is a really bad movie but I like it” sort of way. However, it turned out to be quite gripping and I really did like it. The book was even better. As the main character in the movie, Ben Affleck seems to have it all together: robbing the banks, romancing the kidnapped teller, keeping his bank robber friends in line, attending the AA meetings. However, the book’s main character is much more doubtful and flawed. It’s much more of an examination of character flaws through the recovering alcoholic lens than I expected. There were also some great descriptive passages, one of which I meant to excerpt here but forgot and returned the book. Like the movie, my expectations for the book were low and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

They Called Themselves the KKK
Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Looking for a short, concise history of Reconstruction Era and the birth of the KKK? This is your book. It’s well written and chock full of great primary source material. If there could be a book like this on every historical subject I would read a lot more non-fiction history.

The Resilient Gardener
Carol Deppe
Clear instructions of how to grow and preserve staple crops such as beans, corn, squash, potatoes and eggs. Deppe spends almost as much time explaining how to keep and cook what is grown as she does explaining how to grow it. She lives in Corvallis, so Oregon readers have an advantage here. Overall, a great book which I will probably purchase.

Started but did not finish
I finished everything I started this month.

I fell off my “one book at a time” pledge this month for a few reasons. One is that I’ve begun to read the ten books I need to read for the Mock Printz workshop which is happening in January. I am feeling various emotions about them, mostly having to do with ambivalence. At the same time, I have discovered a fabulous new YA series by Jaclyn Moriarty that I’ve been tearing through. Plus, other interesting books (eeeeeee! Moonlight Mile!!!!!!) have been arriving in my life. So I find myself putting down the required reading for the book candy.

Also, what’s up with Mississippi/the south? The Help is set in Mississippi as is Spies from Mississippi, which I started this month and finished in December. I also read Jubilee which is set in Georgia and Alabama. Plus I started reading Radical Equations, which is about math and civil rights. There’s some sort of southern zeitgeist going on right now, I just can’t for the life of me figure out why.

Read
Jubilee
Margaret Walker
I read this for the library book group and it was a great selection. Initially, I wasn’t that into it and assigned myself to read two chapters per night, which would have me finishing right before the book discussion. It took me a bit to warm up to Vyry, the slave who is the main character. Eventually though, I got caught up in the book and raced ahead of my reading schedule.

I haven’t read a slave narrative in years. They seem to have fallen out of fashion, though I’m not sure why. There’s plenty of drama and pathos in the slave-to-freedom transition. At any rate, if you are looking for a good book, slave narrative or no, grab this book. It probably won’t have any holds at your library as it was published in 1966.

The Help
Kathryn Stockett
I greatly enjoyed this novel, but had to take breaks from it, due to the injustice of the character’s situations. Well written, with a nice tension building throughout the book, I recommend this to anyone interested in the Jim Crow to Civil Rights Era in Mississippi.

Moonlight Mile
Dennis Lehane
This seems to be shorter then any of the other Kenzie/Gennaro books and much more set in the present day. However, some of us will take any opportunity to drop in on these two Boston P.I.s, so this was a treat. The mystery is woven through with a lot of class commentary and is not as labyrinth as others in the series, but I still enjoyed it. A quick read, and I was particularly satisfied with decisions made by the main characters at the end of the book.

The Last Summer of the Death Warriors
Francisco X. Stork
Read this for the 2010 Mock Printz, spoilers are included.

Moderately enjoyable while reading, very enjoyable upon reflection. Both boys in the story are well drawn, the “dying of cancer one” is not too angelic, the “angry young man” is nuanced in his anger, so does not become a caricature of himself. I did find that the various threads of the story seemed to be dropped abruptly and then picked up again, which was distracting, but in a minor way. Also done well was a subtle commentary on class and race and parts of the book were funny, which always helps during the chemotherapy vomiting scenes and other times. I enjoyed the dance between two guys who both want the girl. The orphanage seemed rather idyllic, do such places exist? The big confrontation scene was tense, but also partially unbelievable. As was the “one sip of one drink and I can die” malady. I think as an adolescent, I would have accepted all three at face value. The way the minor characters were written was very good. They are all clear pictures in my mind, especially Juan. The stepfather was the worst, very “random jerk lawyer.”

Feeling Sorry for Celia
Jaclyn Moriarty
Great book of the “letters back and forth genre.” I especially like the “disparaging voices of the conscious” represented as letters from various societies and association, such as the “Cold Hard Truth Association” and the “Association of Teenagers.” While I think it is rare for teenagers to write actual letters today, making this a bit unbelievable, the plot device introduced to get the main characters started on their letters and friendship was quite believable. I especially enjoyed Elizabeth’s mother’s notes to her daughter which managed to combine commentary about life, work, instructions for dinner, concern and humor all in short paragraphs.

The Lost Art of Real Cooking
Ken Albala & Rosanna Nafziger
Aside from having hard-to-spell last name, Ken and Rosanna have in common their interest in food. Food created by hand without a lot of fuss (or with some fuss) that tastes good. The recipes, written in paragraph style, look very delicious, and the writing is sparkling. Take this paragraph:

Turks invade Hungary, and the stage is violently set for the remarkable collision of flaky layered pastry (nee phyllo) and apples. Five hundred years later, Julie Andrews is singing about brown paper packages and warm apple strudel, under threat of yet another invasion–the Germans. Such a violent past for something so delightful.

This book is currently very popular at the library and thus I won’t get to spend as much time with it as I would like. I think I will concentrate on their sourdough bread section, return the book, request it again and when it arrives, incorporate something else.

Nothing
Janne Teller
Read this for the 2010 Mock Printz, spoilers are included.

Hated this book. HATED IT! I think this might mean to be a fable or allegory or something like that, but I found it very unlikable. First off, a seventh grader climbs into a tree because he decides nothing has meaning. He throws plums at his classmates and shouts his new-found beliefs. I can see this happening for an hour or two, or even a day, but that kid stays up there yelling for months. Does he climb down at night? Where does he go to the bathroom?

His classmates, instead of ignoring him, decide to prove him wrong. So they start collecting things with meaning. First they ask the townspeople to give up something meaningful and collect quite a pile. Then they begin to give up their own meaningful things in turn. What starts out as sacrificing really cute sandals grows by degree until the Muslim child gives up his prayer mat and is severely beaten by his parents, a pious child steals a large statue of Jesus from the church, a girl gives up her virginity, the children dig up a dead baby brother from a church yard and, just when you think it can’t get any worse, they kill a dog. At that point, I had to skip ahead five pages so I could bypass the dog killing.

Their pile of meaning is found out, pronounced art, bought by the MoMa for 3.5 million dollars, the children turn on each other, end up beating the plum-throwing, life-has-no-meaning child to death and burning down the sawmill that houses the pile of meaning. The whole thing is a nihilistic mess and I can only be glad that it was a short book and I have now finished reading it.

Remember to wave
Kaia Sand
The delightful 80+ year old volunteer at school gave this book to me because she thought I would “get it.” It’s a good poetic examination of the internment of the Portland-area Japanese during WWII, the flooding of Vanport and also the drowning of Celilo Falls. The Expo center, where the Japanese were houses, and the site of Vanport are very near my house and I enjoyed how Sand linked the present day Max stops to the history of the area.

Started but did not finish
Radical Equations: Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project
Robert P. Moses
Civil rights pioneer wrote this book illustrating his journey from civil rights activist to math activist. He sees the disinterest in math education as creating a new generation of “sharecroppers” and has founded the Algebra Project to combat this.

The book spends a lot of time in Mississippi talking about Moses’ civil rights days. I was looking for more information about the Algebra Project and lost interest in the book. I might pick it up again later.

A conspiracy of kings
Megan Whalen Turner
Read for 2010 Mock Printz, spoilers are included

This was very readable for the first half as I followed the sorry, pampered prince from his soft cocoon through his kidnapping and enslavement. His escape from slavery was quite dramatic too. But then the narrative shifted and all these people came on the scene and everyone seemed to know each other and I was very, very confused before I figured out that this must be a series book. Indeed, it’s number four in the series. I’ve stopped reading, because the whole thing is boring to me at this point, a bunch of people talking about times they had that I haven’t also experienced while also seeming to very slowly plot things. However, I will read the first book, which I’ve been told is awesome, and see if I can work my way back to this one.

Healing Power: Ten Steps to Pain Management and Spiritual Evolution
Philip Shapiro, M.D.
I got this book because its author was featured in the Oregonian as a psychiatrist who works with chronic homeless people. His book sounded interesting and I was wondering if I could use some of his steps to help manage the psoriasis that has taken up residence on my body. The chapters are short and the writing style is abrupt. There are questions at the end of every chapter which would be good for discussion. I did not finish this book because all of my reading tasks overwhelmed me and it needed to go back to the library. I may read it again.

My account at the library says that Moonlight Mile, the long awaited next book in the Kenzie/Gennaro series is waiting for me at the library. The library which opens at guess what time? I shall walk over there now.

Indeed, here I am standing outside the library waiting for it to open.

I check my books on hold and find: nothing. Well, one book that I requested is there, but it is not Moonlight Mile. Puzzled, I recheck my account and find that [insert tremendous disappointment and crestfallen nature here] I have jumped the gun. In my excitement I have read the screen wrong and Moonlight Mile, while on its way, is not waiting for me at this moment.

I return to the hold shelf, grab my other hold, sigh, check it out, turn to go and that is when something stops me. I decide to check out the Lucky Day cart to see if they have anything good. I almost don’t do this, because I’ve got a long reading list for the Mock Printz workshop as well as a tremendously boring Library book group book to read as well as a sporadic book group book to read and who has time for something on the Lucky Day cart?

You will never guess what was there.

Eeeeeeeee! I’ve got about four hours until it’s time to leave for the Harry Potter party and I will be doing only one thing.

Dennis Lehane’s new book (of which I am #7 of 192 holds on 42 copies) has moved from “On Order” to “In Process”

So exciting! I wonder if there is a chance it will come over Thanksgiving Break?

Yep. School (and schoolwork) are in full force right now. Only five books read this month.

Read
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters
Seymour, an Introduction
J. D. Salinger
This is the October Library Book Group selection and a J.D. Salinger creation I have not read. Reading the first story I was delighted to remember how much I love J. D. Salinger. Something about his prose leaves me just on the edge of a delighted hoot. Seymour, an Introduction, I did not love. I felt it was in need of a firm editor, and I ended up skimming most of it. Before Salinger’s death, I would imagine, now and then, that when he died we would get to read all the things I assumed he had been writing for forty years. There was talk that he was continuing the story of the Glass family. I imagined that, posthumously, we reading public would see thick novels published, that were as much fun to read as the Catcher in the Rye. Reading Seymour, an Introduction, I think that perhaps if there are more novels, they probably will lean in the Seymour direction, rather than the Catcher one.

The New Frugality
Chris Farrell
In some ways a run-of-the-mill financial planning book. Its main difference is that the advice comes from the “consume less” angle rather than the “budget and hope for the best” angle. There was a very good chapter about home ownership and how to figure out what the author calls your P/R ratio, the “Price to Rent” ratio. This chapter might be good to read for people who are currently renting and frustrated with it.

There is also a lot of talk about living long and prospering, a subject that I believe we who read a lot of financial planning books will see more of in the next ten years. The author points out that we all will probably not have the retirement our grandparents have and will keep working and working, at least part time until at least our 70s. He points out that our “retirement jobs” can be half time work and contain the best parts of our “career” jobs without all the baggage. Farrell gives the good advice to start to volunteer with organizations you care about in your forties, so that when you retire they know you, your strengths and you can work together.

The Time Traveler’s Wife
Audrey Nifflenegger
Achilles heel alert! Anyone wanting to distract me from whatever task is at hand only need hand me a Nifflenegger novel I have not yet read. The woman’s story lines are addictive and I have trouble getting anything else done until I reach the final page. Having now read both her books, I can say that her strength seems to be writing complex novels–this one skips around in time–and building enough tension through the book so doing anything other than reading seems uninteresting. Her books are also very long so getting to the end, and back to life, takes a substantial investment of my life. This is not the worst thing in the world.

The Aeneid for Boys and Girls
retold by Alfred J. Church.
This was written in 1962 and so its prose was old enough that I had to pay much more attention than I wanted to. However, I probably paid much less attention then if I had been reading Virgil’s masterpiece. To tell the truth, I was looking for an Action Comics version of the tale, but this was as easy as the library got.

I read this as a comparison to Livina, which I read last month for the library book club. I found some striking differences between the two, namely that in LeGuin’s telling of the story the gods are not involved at all. This makes sense as the book was from the main character’s perspective and most of us don’t have sense of the string pulling various gods do on a daily basis. It would have been fun if LeGuin and I could sit down and discuss her choices as to what to include in the book, but I think I would want to wade through an official version first. Given LeGuin’s lamentation of the death of Latin and how we are as a culture seeing the actual death of the great “dead language”–statements I agree with and feel sad about–I can’t imagine the withering look I would get if it came out I couldn’t be bothered to read even a translation.

Interesting differences between books written “for boys and girls” in 1962 and today: there was a forward and an afterward. When was the last time you have seen that in a children’s book? The scattering of drawings almost never matched with the text on the page, something that I think has to do with printing layouts. Also, I’m pretty sure when the publisher says, “boys and girls” they were aiming the book at the 11-14 age group. Today the title would be The Aeneid for Tweens and Teens.

*Note. I just published my review on Goodreads and I’m the only one to review this book! So exciting!

The End of Overeating
David A. Kessler
Fabulous book! In the first section Kessler accurately describes my–and apparently many Americans– interactions with food, (“I want a cookie. No I shouldn’t. Well, it’s been awhile. But I would be better off without one. But it’s been a hard day. I’ll just have one. Well but one will be one too many. and on and on and on”) as well as traces the brain chemical response that leads us to overeating. In the second portion, he looks at how food manufacturers have capitalized on our tendency to want more to increase their profits. In the third section, he describes steps people can take to retrain our brain chemicals and habits to stop overeating.

Kessler sometimes has a tendency to bring up a point and wander off from it, but overall the book is worth reading.

Started and did not finish
I finished all I started this month.

I think September was a great reading month. I finished a lot of books in a variety of genres and though it wasn’t a great month for fiction, it was a fabulous month for non-fiction.

Read
Comedy of Errors
Wm Shakespeare
While reading this I several times thought, “I think this part will be funny when I see it on stage.” But I didn’t find it especially funny while reading. The beauty of Shakespeare’s language continues to escape me, until I see trained professionals bring it to life. And they did with great verve. And Edwardian bathing costumes! Long live Portland Actor’s Ensemble!

Slim Margin
Alison Apotheker
A collection of poems by a local Portland author and teacher, as well as a mom of children who attend the school where I work. I enjoyed this collection, especially “Forty-Somethings at the Swimming Hole” and “Ground Waters” which was featured this spring in the Writer’s Almanac. I also enjoyed that I could tell when the children appeared in her life.

Tiny, Tiny Houses
Lester Walker
I passed away a delightful afternoon studying the architectural drawings in this book. Some of my favorites: Tent House, which is made mostly of nylon, but which can be folded up into a tight locked structure when you are away from it. George Bernard Shaw’s Writing Hut which could be rotated to follow the sun. 1950’s Ranch House which is a tiny version of the house we all know. Also the Dune Shack which at the time of publication could still be found in the dunes of Cape Cod.

This is great inspirational reading for anyone who dreams of having a small space of her own. It also highlights great innovations in small space technology. I’m sure I will turn to this again and again.

Lavinia
Ursula K. Le Guin
I read this for the library’s discussion group and I’m pretty sure I would have not finished it if I were reading it for myself. It was not a quick read and so I had plenty of time to contemplate what was going on.
What worked:

• I liked that I got to read the bones of a historic work without actually going to the trouble of reading the historic work.
• I liked that the story was from a woman’s perspective
• I liked learning about all the various ancient Roman religious rituals
• I like that I’ve finally read something by Portland author Le Guin.

What didn’t work

• The writing style was much more ornate that I am used to. I couldn’t skim.
• The plot device mostly had me bored. LeGuin set up the story so I knew what was going to happen in each major part of narrative, either because the Poet appeared and told Livina, or because Livina herself told us what was going to happen. So then when it did, I was never surprised.
• It turns out that even when I’m reading a rewritten tale from a woman’s perspective sometimes I won’t really care that much about the tale.

I will be interested to see what I learn in the discussion.

Late breaking news: at the discussion group, someone pointed out that the plot device that had me bored–telling you what will happen, then it happens–is a feature of Greek Theater. Ah! Now I see.

Empowering the Beginning Teacher of Mathematics Middle School.
NCTM
Short and to the point, this book is chock-full of important information and tips. I think my favorite page was the Summary of Questioning Techniques which lists several ineffective ways to ask questions and then presents several effective ways to make the ineffective question effective.

The funniest bit of advice was something along the lines of, “when your students ask how old you are, add 30 years to your current age, as that is how old they think you are.”

This would be a good book to review right before job hunting and, of course, after one secures a job and has yet to start teaching.

Papertown
John Green
I’ve been quite enjoying my foray into John Green’s works. This was a great novel told from a teenaged boy perspective that includes an elaborate prank, a mystery to solve, an incredibly funny road trip, and a love story. Alternately gripping, tragic, funny and smart, this is a fabulous YA novel.

Perfect Breathing
Al Lee & Don Campbell
Too tired to exercise? No healthy cooking skills? Don’t like fruits and vegetables? Do you want to improve your health but not really exert that much effort? Perfect breathing is for you. Lee and Campbell outline the many ways “perfect breathing” (taking a full, deep breath from your belly) can benefit you. Unlike many self help books, there is no program for you to adopt, no massive changes to make to your lifestyle. All you have to do is adopt the six second breath and you are on your way to better health. Sure, there are other exercises which you can do or not do. There is even a handy appendix which summarizes all of the exercises in the books. But really, the authors would be happy if you just revert to the belly breathing you did naturally as an infant.

Housebuilding for Children
Lester Walker
Yet another fabulous book by Mr. Walker. If I had children, this book would be part of our family library. By reading this book, children can learn to build their own play houses by themselves, with little-to-no adult supervision. Fabulous. Originally this was published in 1977 it is chock full of cute pictures of 1970s tykes (both boys and girls!) building six different play structures. In an age where children can’t do anything by themselves, for fear of whatever, this is a great book.

The Lonely Polygamist
Brady Udell
I’ve been stewing over this book for days and have come to the conclusion that I just didn’t like it. It was quite readable, but I couldn’t sympathize with either of the two adult (the polygamist referenced in the title and his fourth wife) main characters. I did like the other main character, the 11 year old boy. The adult problems seemed to be of their own making and the boy had little choice. Because I couldn’t connect with the characters, I was mostly annoyed and bored.

However, the lonely polygamist makes an observation that I did find truthful: women who learned of his polygamy were always distrustful whereas men were always very interested.

I think that polygamy works (somewhat) in agricultural societies where all those children can be put to work. But in our society it seems to create a lot of excess and lost children. I would argue that in the US today, if there is going to be polygamy, it should be one woman and several men, as this will result in less children and more “means” for the family to live on. I’d like to read that book. Who would be a good person to author it?

Started but did not finish.
Teaching Mathematics in the Middle School. A Practical Guide.
Krulik, Rudnick, Milou
If by “practical” they mean “boring” this is your guide. Incredibly thorough (does anyone going into teaching in the United States NOT know what an overhead projector is?) and includes sample lesson plans. I will grind through this in January when I’m gearing up for hiring season. Right now I just can’t force myself to read this.

Probably the best month of fiction reading I’ve had all year long. The nonfiction was good too.

Read

Manhood for Amateurs
Michael Chabon
It was interesting reading this directly after finishing Elizabeth Gilbert’s Committed. I love Michael Chabon’s writing just as much as I love Elizabeth Gilbert’s. His paragraph-long sentences are delightful and most of this book I wanted to read out loud to someone. The opening essay “The Loser’s Club” was heartbreaking, and the rest was gleefully, beautifully written. When Ira Glass talks about us living in a time of “giants” of nonfiction storytelling, he is talking about Michael Chabon. I want to photocopy some of the essay just to possess them.

A Drink Before the War.
Dennis Lehane
New book in the series coming out November 30th. Time for a re-read.

Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure
Matthew Algeo
True story of Harry Truman’s post-Presidency road trip from Independence Missouri to the East Coast. The author retraces the route and discusses the original trip and how the sites have changed. This was a somewhat interesting book, though in places I felt it was not very well written.

Faithful Place
Tana French
After really loving Tana French’s previous books, I was excited to read this one. Like the other two I shirked responsibilities to tear through this one. Unlike the other two I figured out the “who” and they “why” about a quarter of the way through the book. As I am generally very slow on the uptake with mysteries, I would guess that this was a pretty obvious plot, which was disappointing. Still, I did devour the book, for whatever that is worth.

This Charming Man
Marian Keys
Ever since Olivia Goldsmith died–breaking my heart, by the way–I have been pining for someone who wrote the special class of books she did. On the surface, they were frothy “wronged woman finds love and vindication” sort of thick novels perfectly suited for a beach read. However, most all of her books had a strong, thoughtful social justice undercurrent that was very hard to miss. Near the end of this book I wondered if Marian Keys might just be my new Olivia Goldsmith.

This is the first book I’ve read by Marian Keys, whom I discovered through my friend Jan. I was initially put off by the narration of the lead character, and contemplated putting the book down because of it. I persevered, however and soon fell in love with her. This was a great, Goldsmith-style book that I was happy to spend the day with. Indeed, I couldn’t put it down. My thought of “I’ll get out of bed at 9:00” was moved to 11, then 1 and then I just gave up and kept reading until I finished around 4:00 in the afternoon. I’m interested to explore other Marian Keyes books and see if she can indeed engage me like Olivia Goldsmith once did.

What I Saw & How I Lied
Judy Blundell
This is a fairly engrossing YA book set in 1947. It’s a good exploration of the gray areas around telling the truth.

Looking For Alaska
John Green
Thanks to my current obsession, the Vlogbrothers, I now have three novels to read by John Green. This was a good YA novel that captured confusing parts of adolescence such as pining for someone you cannot have and identity formation.

Can’t Wait to Get To Heaven
Fannie Flagg
I have always enjoyed Fannie Flagg’s books, but this was incredibly saccharine. It was so sweet, I almost didn’t finish it. The plot is obvious, the mystery is haphazard and fleshed out/solved in the last few pages of the book and the characters are annoying. Overall, a disappointing read.

One Day
David Nicholls
Supposedly this will be made into a movie. The plot device–popping in annually on the same day to see what characters are up to–was pretty ingenious and kept me reading. I enjoyed the characters and their flaws and I think the best part about this book is how it captures so many life passages. I particularly loved the description of “third wave” weddings and also the thought process of a childless woman in her thirties. A very well done “romantic comedy” of a book.

The Motel Life
Willie Vlautin
I’m not such a big Raymond Carver fan and since Carver’s name is invoked in one of the many blurbs–along with Flannary O’Connor and also, Steinbeck, McMurtry, Johnson, McGuane–I was not such a fan of the book. Vlautin has a very crisp writing style which has an edge of desperation and hopelessness and humor. The book is a quick read and has great illustrations. I’m happy I’ve read it, but I don’t know if I need to read another by him.

Put Your Life on a Diet
Gregory Johnson
Tiny book written by a man who lives in 140 square feet. It’s full of good tips about how to reduce your footprint. My favorite: when downsizing, rather than agonizing about getting rid of things, just put everything in storage first, and take only the basic things you will need. After a year or two, you will not be as attached to many of the items and can easily give them away. The ones that still mean something to you are worth keeping. The book also includes a lot of resources.

Dies the Fire
S.M. Sterling.
Hey what if a strange event happened and suddenly all mechanical things did not work? Not even guns? Whose expertise would we need? It turns out that nerdy people who are involved in the SCA and other medieval/Renaissance recreation groups do come in handy after all. Who else today knows how to fight with a broadsword? Or make crossbows?

This was an engrossing distopian novel, though the Wicca exclamations (Lord and Lady!) of one of the main characters never ceased to annoy me, even after 500 pages. After awhile the fight scenes became repetitive, so I’m contemplating not continuing with the series.

An Abundance of Katherines
John Green.
It has footnotes! In a novel! And math! But not in an intrusive way! This was a great story, very funny, and the child prodigy reminds me of someone I know. A clever story and a great read, very recommended.

Started and did not finish.
Food drying with an attitude.
Mary T. Bell
I skimmed this for ideas, because after all, pretty much the drying world consists of the following recipe: slice, season, dry, store. There were some good ideas and I never would have thought of drying pickles, but you can bet your sweet bippy I will now, thanks to this book. One strength: there were a lot of recipes incorporating the dried food which comes in handy for anyone who ever wonders what the heck they are going to do with a bunch of dried zucchini.