Month: July 2009

Why Darwin Matters

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The Case Against Intelligent Design
by Michael Shermer
ages: adult (though anyone interested in this debate could read this)
First sentence: “In June 2004, the science historian Frank Sulloway and I began a month-long expedition to retrace Charles Darwin’s footsteps in the Galapagos Islands.”

Delivery, people, delivery.

When writing a book, SO much depends on the delivery, the tone, the way in which you present the information, characters, narrative, story.

In short: this book would have been much better if the author hadn’t constantly come off as a pompous ass.

It’s not that I disagree with his premise: that Intelligent Design is NOT science, that evolution is a fact and not a belief, that one can believe in God and accept evolution and not have it in conflict. But, I just don’t know who this man was trying to convince. He kept implying — and in some cases, he says it pretty explicitly — that the ID people are morons (which they might be, but that’s no way to present an argument), that they are crusaders (ditto), and that Science is Right and if you are a reasonable person, then you will accept that ID is bunk and Evolution is right.

Right.

Really, it’s no way to endear your reader to your position. And it’s no way to convince those who believe in ID, or are even on the fence, that you’re right and they’re wrong (even if you are).

Grrr.

Geeky World Reader

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This week’s geek asks us where we’ve “gone” in the world through our reading.

Are you a global reader? How many countries have you “visited” in your reading? What are your favorite places or cultures to read about? Can you recommend particularly good books about certain regions, countries or continents? How do you find out about books from other countries? What countries would you like to read that you haven’t yet? Use your own criteria about what you consider to be “visiting” — whether a book is written about the country or by a native or resident of the country. For fun, create one of these maps at this website ticking off the countries you’ve read books from – you might be surprised how many (or how few!) countries you’ve read. Include the map in your blog post if you’re so inclined.

I’m going to try and do this off the top of my head:

create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide

Canada — author from (Margaret Atwood)
US — lots
Mexico — Set in (Hummingbird’s Daughter)
Bermuda/Trinidad and Tobago/Grenada — author visited (Embarrased by Mangoes)
Dominican Republic — set in (How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents)
Argentina — author visited (Eight Feet in the Andes)
Brazil — Set in (Bringing the Boy Home)
South Africa — The White Giraffe
(I’m not sure, exactly if there’s more than that from Africa; nothing’s coming to mind.)
Austria — set in (The Musician’s Daughter)
Italy — author visited (Under the Tuscan Sun)
Netherlands — set in (Girl With a Pearl Earring)
Vatican City — set in (Angels and Demons)
France — lots (The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry; A Good Year)
Greece — set in (Oh. My. Gods.)
Ireland — author (Roddy Doyle)
Iceland — author visited (The Geography of Bliss; I could count this book for a lot of places, but I’ll just use my favorite chapter.)
Russia — author (Death of Ivan Illych)
Sweden — author/set in (Echoes From the Dead)
UK — lots
Iraq — author been (Baghdad Without a Map)
Iran — author from (Reading Lolita in Tehran, Persepolis, among others)
Israel — author from and set in (A Bottle in the Gaza Sea)
Turkey — author from/set in (Snow)
Afghanastan — set in (The Breadwinner/Parvana’s Journey/Kite Runner)
China — lots
India — author from (Climbing the Mango Trees)
New Zealand — author from/set in (Whale Rider)
Australia — set in (Everything is Beautiful)

Obviously, I should read more from Africa… As for me, personally, I’m not a world traveler. I’ve been to Canada (I ❤ Canada), the Caribbean (Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Marshall Islands, Antigua, Bermuda, and St. Martaan on a cruise), and Germany. I'd like to go more places… but that will have to wait until the kids leave, probably.

How about you? Where have you been (either in person or on the page)? Anywhere interesting?

Oh. My. Gods.

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by Tara Lynn Childs
ages: 13+
First sentence: “When I’m running, I can almost feel my dad at my side.”

beach read: n. A book that is sufficiently fluffy enough to not require thinking while sitting in the hot sand, but fun enough to keep you turning pages.

Oh. My. Gods. = Perfect. Beach. Read.

Think of it as a cross between Maureen Johnson — our main character, Phoebe, is marooned (of sorts) on a Greek island when her mother remarries, and she has to Figure Out the New Life Changes — and Rick Riordan — except the high school she’s now attending is populated with descendants of Greek Gods. Sure, all the elements of your usual High School chick fare are there — snotty Evil Stepsister (they actually call her that) and her snotty cheerleader friends; jerk (but cute) boy with Heart of Gold that she falls for, in spite of her Best Interests; best friends (that Phoebe left behind) that are dying to know What’s Going On; new best friend with an Agenda; and the boy, who’s just a Friend. But throw in the added element of supernatural powers derived from being related to the Greek gods, a bit of a conflict with new best friend and Jerk Boy, and Phoebe trying figure out her place in the whole scheme of things (like why her down-to-earth therapist mother would run off with a Greek guy in the first place… which was never really explained), and you have enough to sustain a novel. But, really: it’s all about the hot guy and the main character getting together. Isn’t it?

If you don’t expect anything big or grand or life-shattering, it’s a fun romp (and an interesting take) through Greek mythology and your general YA romance fare. No, it’s not great literature, but it is a lot of fun.

Buy it at Amazon, Powell’s, or your local independent bookstore.

Story of a Girl

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by Sara Zarr
ages: 14+
First sentence: “

I procrastinated this, because I had no idea what to say.

On the one hand: powerful, powerful story of a girl trying to get past a BIG mistake she made because she was lonely and wanted attention… and the guy told everyone. She the rep now of being the school slut (even though she’s never done it with anyone else). To make it worse, her dad can’t forgive her, and she can’t forgive herself. How does one get past that?

On the other hand: totally and completely depressing. The family is totally messed up, and I wanted to scream at the parents: parent already! Hard to read when you have a 13 year old girl yourself. At times, I found myself crying in frustration and disappointment at how totally wrong ALL their lives had gone. (Then again, that’s a sign of a really good story.)

Not exactly a cheerful, take-you-away kind of book. But a good one for discussing.

Buy it at Amazon, Powell’s or your local independent bookstore.

Book to Movie Friday: Becoming Jane

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I know I talked about this a bit in my review of the book (and technically I shouldn’t count it since I saw the movie first, and this breaks the rules I’ve set up for myself), but I haven’t watched a movie adaptation of a book in a while, and I wanted to keep this little feature going.

I should also start with a couple of confessions: I saw this movie when it came out, in the theater, and I liked it from the start. Which means, I’m not a Janeite. For all my love of her novels, I don’t mind it when they play with them and interpret the story a bit.

But, as I said in my review of the book, while this is a decent love story (and James McAvoy is quite dreamy), it’s not history. The whole Tom LeFroy love angle of the book was a blip, a passing mention. Not much is known about her relationship with him, and even Jon Spence is inferring much from her novel and what is known about both Tom and Jane. There’s really not that much there… especially not enough to make a 2 hour movie out of.

That said, I think they did a good job capturing the essence of Jane Austen — her conflict with propriety, her wit, her observations of people. We know so little about her, that it’s fun to infer what she might have been like based on what she did write. And while those inferences probably aren’t anywhere near the truth (dang you, Cassandra, for burning all those letters!), that doesn’t mean it’s not fun to speculate.

Which means, I can’t be too upset at all the liberties they took (mixing up times and places and names, creating instances which probably didn’t happen). Anne Hathaway did a good job capturing Jane’s curiosity with and frustration at the world; James McAvoy was perfect as a foil for her sharp tongue and brilliant mind. Which, for me, is really all you need in a good movie (like this).

Verdict: the movie is a LOT of fun, but check out a biography of her, too.

Fire

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by Kristin Cashore
ages: 13+
First sentence (ARC): “Larch often though that if it had not been for his newborn son, he never would have survived his wife Mikra’s death.”
Release date: October 5, 2009

(Okay, Kailana, I finally got around to it. 🙂 And thanks, Corinne, for sending me the ARC!)

Fire is a monster. In the Dells, monster creatures — immensely beautiful, irresistible to humans, and with the ability to control human minds — are a part of life, and Fire is the last of the human monsters. She has the ability to make people do her will — an ability her father, Cansrel, used frequently before he died — but she doesn’t use it, instead preferring to hide away in her northern home. That is, until people start mysteriously attempting to kidnap her and then mysteriously dying once they are captured. The events make her curious, and restless, and so when Prince Bergin shows up, at the king’s request, to escort her to King City in order to use her powers to aid in the preparations for the upcoming war, she goes.

It’s obviously more complex than that, mostly because Cashore is a brilliant storyteller and world weaver. There’s scores of new characters to know and love: complex, fascinating, amazing. There’s a new world to discover, full of interesting, and dangerous, creatures. But, in the inevitable comparisons, it’s a much more reflective book than Graceling is. While Fire and Katsa are vastly different heroines, they’re both strong, intelligent, amazing, and willing to do much for those (people and country) that they love. While the romance doesn’t as sparkle and sizzle as much as it does in Graceling, it’s there and amazing in its own mature, lasting way. We meet Leck, Graceling‘s creepy evildoer, as a boy, and even though he didn’t play the role that I was hoping he would, he was still evil enough to give me chills. In fact, the weakest link in the book that is Fire is the “bad guys”; they are there, but they tend to lurk and make polital maneuvers rather than actively confronting the main characters.

That said, Cashore keeps the pace moving, the pages turning, and the reader engrossed to the very last page.

Pre-order it at: Amazon Powell’s or your local independent bookstore.

Library Loot #26

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I must stop putting books on hold. I must stop putting books on hold. I must stop putting books on hold. I must stop putting books on hold. I must stop putting books on hold. I must stop putting books on hold.
I must stop putting books on hold. I must stop putting books on hold.

(Do you think I can convince myself if I say it enough? *snort* Probably not.)

For A/K:
Peep!: A Little Book About Taking a Leap, by Maria Van Lieshout
Yoko Writes Her Name, by Rosemary Wells
The Pigeon Wants a Puppy, by Mo Willems**
Read It, Don’t Eat It!, by Ian Schoenherr
The Donut Chef, by Bob Staake**
Ducks Don’t Wear Socks, by John Nedwidek/Illus. by Lee White**
Tommaso and the Missing Line, by Matteo Pericoli
No Babysitters Allowed, by Amber Stewart/Illus. by Laura Rankin
I’m Bad!, by Kate and Jim McMullan

For M:
Leap of Faith, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley*
Seventh Son (Tales of Alvin Maker, Book 1), by Orson Scott Card*

For me:
My Life in France, by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme
Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design, by Michael Shermer

The roundup is either at Reading Adventures or A Striped Armchair.

*Ones that M eventually read.
**Picture books we really liked.

20 Boy Summer

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by Sarah Ockler
ages: 15+
First sentence: “Frankie Perino and I were lucky that day.”
ARC sent to me by a publicist.

Anna was in love with the boy next door, Matt. She and Matt and his sister, Frankie, were the ultimate triumvirate: they did everything together, but Anna kept her feelings to herself. Then, on her 15th birthday, everything changed: Matt kissed her (of course she kissed him back!). They hid their relationship from their parents and his sister, he promised that he’d break it to Frankie when they went on their annual pilgrimage to Zanzibar Bay in California. Except, he died — heart failure from a defect no one had caught — before he could get the chance.

Fast forward a year. Anna and Frankie are still friends, struggling through the grief of losing a brother (and a something-more-than friend, though Anna is Long Suffering and True and hasn’t told anyone). Frankie’s taken to being wild — smoking in her room, flirting (and sex) with boys — partially to see if she can get some kind of reaction from her parents, and partially to reinvent herself. Anna is lost, hanging around Frankie because she’s loyal, not really because she understands how to help, or even how to fully deal with her grief.

Then Frankie’s parents invite Anna to go with them to Zanzibar Bay, the first time they’ve been back since Matt’s death. And Frankie invents this game: 20 boys in 20 days: they should be able to help Anna dump her “albatross” (her virginity) and make it the A.B.S.E. (absolutely best summer ever). Anna goes along, but only halfheartedly because she’s still in love with Matt, and is determined to be faithful to his memory. Besides: if she falls in love with someone else, doesn’t that mean Matt will be erased?

I’m torn about this one: it’s an interesting look at dealing with grief, and with the unexpected loss of a loved one, whether it be a friend or a relative. I liked the romance Anna has, both in flashbacks with Matt, and her learning that she can love again with Sam, the local surfer boy. However, I cringed at everything Anna and Frankie got away with — and they got away with a lot; understandably, Frankie’s parents were grief stricken, but it made them really lazy in the parenting department. I also don’t know if the shedding of ones virginity — especially as a one-time affair — is really a valid method of dealing with grief, which is what I ultimately saw it being used as in the book, which made me uncomfortable.

At any rate, the characters — especially Anna — are interesting and complex, which is difficult to do when dealing with intense emotions and situations. And, while everything is not perfect in the end, everything will be okay.

Which, sometimes, is all you can ask for.

Buy it at Amazon, Powell’s or your local independent bookstore.

Bookish Food

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The F2F book group is at my house tonight, and since we’re discussing Garden Spells, I thought I would make some food from the book:

Yum. Even if no one comes, I’ll have a good time. 🙂

Beastly

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by Alex Flinn
ages: 13+
First sentence: “Mr. Anderson: Welcome to the first meeting of the Unexpected Changes chat group.”

Kyle Kingman has it all: looks, money, popularity, a hot girlfriend. His father — a newscaster megastar — basically leaves him alone to do what he wants, to buy whatever he wants. Then, one day at school, Kendra shows up. She’s definitely NOT Kyle’s type — ugly, mostly — and on a whim, Kyle decides to ask her to the dance as a joke. Turns out, though, that Kendra’s a witch, and after Kyle ditches her at the dance, she turns him into the Beast that he is. However, since (last minute, and because his girlfriend hated it) he gave a white rose to a girl at the dance, he will have two years to break the curse by (you guessed it) getting someone to fall in love with him as the Beast. And she has to kiss him.

It’s the Beauty and the Beast story, of course, and all the elements are there. The father breaking into the Beast’s house and trading his daughter for his life. The daughter, named Beauty, despising the creature because of her imprisonment but eventually learning to care for him. Beast’s growth and discovering that he really can love. And, yes, the eventual happily-ever-after that comes from a love blossomed out of a friendship. But Flinn takes it and tweaks it just enough, updates it to current times, and then gives us a beast who is broken and lonely and desperate for someone to love him for himself. Amazingly enough, it works on all levels: as a fairy tale, yes, but also as a romance and a story about two broken kids figuring out what it means to love, but also to be loved.

Buy it at Amazon, Powell’s, Half.com, or your local independent bookstore.