Author: booknutgirls

booknutgirls http://thebooknutdotcom.wordpress.com I read. I blog. I sell books. I chauffeur my kids. What more do you need to know?

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things

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by Carolyn Macker
ages: 14+
First sentence: “Froggy Welsh the Fourth is trying to get up my shirt.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Virginia Shreves is the black sheep in a perfect family. She’s blonde, not brown-haired. She’s chubby (well, fat), in a family that not only is tall and skinny, but that values tall, skinny people over short, not-skinny ones. She’s not even good at French. She’s spent her whole life (all 15 years of it) feeling like she’s an outcast, while worshiping her older siblings, especially her brother Byron.

Then, one phone call sets events into motion, events which make Virginia stand up and reassess her relationship with her family, what she wants out of life, and get some chutzpah. It made me, as a reader, want to stand up and cheer: You go girl!

There were two things that ran through my mind while reading this: 1) if I’m ever a mom like her mom, I will shoot myself. Seriously. Sometimes I wonder if I get the best parenting advice by reading about horrid, awful parents. In this case, Virginia’s mom only validates her efforts to lose weight. She punishes her, whether consciously or unconsciously, for being fat, and refuses to acknowledge her other — scholastic and otherwise — efforts. On top of that, her dad praises and admires skinny women, and only offers to take Virginia shopping for new clothes after she shows some effort at achieving a weight goal. I wanted to smack the parents: this is not the way to raise a healthy girl!

2) It’s a great book on how to get out of being a doormat. It was wonderful seeing Virginia wake up and get a spine and discover what she, herself wants and not what she thinks her parents want. Yes, it takes a drastic event to tumble her family enough so that Virginia can see her family for what they are: manipulative and more than willing to push things under the carpet. But without that drastic event, Virginia might have gone through life letting other people push her around. It helps, I think, that Virginia also has a crew of people around her guiding her in healthy directions: her doctor, Dr. Love; a language arts teacher, Ms. Crowley; and her best friend, Shannon. Unfortunately, Shannon is across the country in Walla Walla, Washington with her parents, but she does come through when Virginia needs her most.

It’s with their help that Virginia takes charge of her life, her weight, and her desires. And that’s enough to make a reader stand up and cheer.

Challenge #6: 2010 Challenge

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I squeaked in at the end of the Twenty Ten Challenge as well… I have to stop doing year-long challenges, because I always procrastinate until the end of the year!

Out of these, there were a lot of good books. I completely bombed on the Charity category; more proof that I’m absolutely horrid picking books for myself. As long as I don’t do that, I’m okay!

Young Adult
1. Wintergirls, Laurie Halse Anderson
2. Marcelo in the Real World, Francisco X. Stork

T.B.R.
1. I am Morgan Le Fay: A Tale from Camelot, Nancy Springer
2. The English American, Alison Larkin

Shiny & New
1. Scarlett Fever, Maureen Johnson
2. Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins

Bad Bloggers
1. Heist Society, Ally Carter — bad blogger, Liz B, A Chair, A Fireplace & a Tea Cozy.
2. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, Louise Rennison — bad blogger, Corinne, The Book Nest

Charity
1. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, by Rebecca Wells
2. A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian, by Marina Lewycka

New in 2010
1. The Girl Who Chased the Moon, Sarah Addison Allen
2. Saving Maddie, Varian Johnson

Older Than You
1. Howards End, E. M. Forester
2. Over Sea, Under Stone, Susan Cooper

Win! Win!
1. A Wrinkle in Time, Madeline L’Engle
2. Fried Green Tomatoes, Fanny Flagg

Who Are You Again?
1. The Street of a Thousand Blossoms, Gail Tsukiyama
2. Dream Factory, Brad Barkley and Heather Helper

Up to You! – I did People of Color
1. Mare’s War, Tanita S. Davis
2. Bamboo People, Mitali Perkins

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian

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by Marina Lewycka
ages: adult
First sentence: “Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blond Ukrainian divorcee.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

I really wanted to like this book. I’d heard good things about it, or at the very least okayish things. I picked it up at a Friends of the Library sale back in June, I think, and it’s been languishing on my TBR pile since then. I just really couldn’t get excited by the cover. Or the title. Or the back blurb. In fact, if it hadn’t have been one I’d chosen for the 2010 Challenge, I probably would have passed on it altogether.

As it turns out, I’m pretty much passing on it anyway. After one hundred pages, I was still wondering what the point was. I threw a feeler out on Twitter, and SuziQ at Whimpulsive bit: she said it was weird. And I had to agree.

The basic plot: two sisters, daughters of Ukrainian immigrants, are feuding after their mother’s death. Then their 84-year-old father falls in love (or lust), with a blond, 36-year-old Ukrainian divorcee (perhaps; I never could quite figure out if she really was) who’s using him to gain citizenship to the UK. This, of course, leads to tension between the dad and the daughters, which, interestingly enough, manages, in the end, to bring the family back together. Or, so I gathered.

See, I didn’t finish it really. I read the first 100 pages or so, then flitted about a bit, and then read the last 50. And I wasn’t impressed. I didn’t like the characters, didn’t sympathize with them (differing life situations, and I just wasn’t interested in their whining and moaning), and I was bored by the book. I have wondered, off and on, if too much YA has spoiled me for adult fiction; the pace was glacially slow; I kept wondering how on earth Lerwycka was going to fill 300 pages. Was there really that much story? I’m not sure there was.

But, obviously, I’m missing something here; it’s one of those that was nominated for a Man Booker Prize. And, obviously, I have different expectations from books than those who are on the Man Booker Prize committee.

Can’t say I’m too sorry about that.

2011 POC Challenge

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My place for putting 2011’s POC reading list. I’m aiming high: 25 or more books. Wish me luck…

Same Kind of Different as Me, by Ron Hall and Denver Moore
Forge, by Laurie Halse Anderson
Street Magic, by Tamora Pierce
The True Meaning of Smekday, by Adam Rex
King of Bollywood, by Anupama Chopra
India Calling, by Anand Giridharadas
Luv Ya Bunches, by Lauren Myracle
Violet in Bloom, by Lauren Myracle
Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
Sweet 15, by Emily Adler and Alex Echevarria
Trash, by Andy Mulligan
The Throne of Fire, by Rick Riordan
A Gift From Childhood, by Baba Wague Diakite
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith
The Heart of a Samurai, by Margi Preus
8th Grade Superzero, by Olugbemisola Rhuday Perkovich
How Lamar’s Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy, by Crystal Allen
The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
What Momma Left Me, by Renee Watson
Inside Out and Back Again, by Thanhha Lai
Year of the Horse, by Justin Allen
The Demon’s Surrender, by Sarah Rees Brennan
The Eternal Smile: Three Stories, by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim
Kendra, by Coe Booth
Zazoo, by Richard Mosher
Latasha and the Little Red Tornado, by Michael Scotto
The Latte Rebellion, by Sarah Jamila Stevenson
The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
Words in the Dust, by Trent Reedy

2010 Challenge #5: POC Challenge

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I had a great time with the POC Reading Challenge. And because of the challenge, I was thinking more about choosing books with people of color, and I read more than I think I have in the past. I made it to level 5, with 22 books. I’m going to sign up again for next year’s challenge, with the same goal: to reach 25 or more books.

My favorite among these? Probably Marcelo in the Real World. But I also thoroughly enjoyed Marching for Freedom and Shine, Coconut Moon and One Crazy Summer and Bamboo People and Shooting Kabul and… well, you get the point.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin
Peace, Locomotion, by Jacqueline Woodson
Shine, Coconut Moon, by Neesha Meminger
Sugar, by Bernice L. McFadden
Marching for Freedom, Elizabeth Partridge
Two Moon Princess, by Carmen Ferrerio-Esteban
Skunk Girl, by Sheba Karim
The Prince of Fenway Park, by Julianna Baggot
A Step from Heaven, by An Na
Mare’s War, by Tanita S. Davis
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, by Phillip Hoose
Girl in Translation, by Jean Kwok
Marcelo in the Real World, by Francisco X. Stork
The Red Umbrella, by Christina Diaz Gonzales
One Crazy Summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia
Zora and Me, by Victoria Bond and T. R. Simon
Bamboo People, by Mitali Perkins
The Lost Hero, by Rick Riordan
Shooting Kabul, by N. H. Senzai
Out of My Mind, by Sharon Draper
Tortilla Sun, by Jennifer Cervantes

I also never thanked Ari for sending the prize I won: a copy of Good Fortune, by Noni Carter. I’m looking forward to reading it and counting it towards next year’s challenge!

2010 Challenge #4: GLBT Challenge

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So, just under the wire, I finished the GLBT Challenge. I managed to finish the Lambda leve, which is what I was aiming for. But, I almost made it to the Pink Triangle, reading three extra books. I think out of this list, though, my favorite was My Most Excellent Year, with Dorian Gray coming close behind. I’m glad I did this!

My final list:

1. Howards End, E.M. Forester
2. The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
3. My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins & Fenway Park, Steve Kluger
4. Fried Green Tomatoes, Fanny Flagg
5. As You Wish, Jackson Pearce
6. Will Grayson, Will Grayson, David Levithan and John Green
7. The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde

Thanks for hosting, Amanda!

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

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by Fannie Flagg
ages: adult
First sentence: “The Whistle Stop Cafe opened up last week, right next door to me at the post office, and owners Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison said business has been good ever since.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

I don’t quite know where to start. Perhaps I should say that I saw the movie years and years ago, and while I liked it, I’m not sure it really stuck with me.

But when Cass said the book was one of her favorites, I figured I needed to give the story a second look. And I’m glad I did.

It’s not a book for 20-somethings, though the mystery underlying the vignettes might have some appeal. But that’s not what I got out of the story. In fact, I had a hard time picking out much of a story at all. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it. I did. But, it took me a while to realize that the book is a kind of fictionalized oral history. Once I accepted that, then I found I was able to enjoy the book more, taking the stories for what they were: reminiscences of a full life.

That I loved the characters helped as well. I looked as forward to visits with Mrs. Threadgoode as much as Evelyn did. I loved hearing about Whistle Stop, about all the characters — even with all the 1930s area Southern racism — and their antics. It’s a cozy book and a welcoming, homey one, too, one that makes you feel like you are a part of the community. It shows both the positives of small towns (how everyone bonds together in a crisis, the support systems, the community building) and the negatives (nosiness, lack of privacy, prejudice). It doesn’t sugarcoat anything, which, in turn, makes everything resonate more.

And then there’s Evelyn. Ah, the quintessential doormat middle-aged wife and mother. I think I enjoyed her “awakening” most of all. Firstly, because it came through the stories. And secondly, because I think she needed it. To find fire and want and to stop being so dang selfless all the time. Sometimes, it’s okay to do something for yourself, and to be angry at the injustice in the world.

It’s a wonderful book and I’m glad I had a chance to visit with it.

A Bloggy Thank You

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I love this time of year. Partially because I love giving (and getting) presents. And one of the few places I trust to give me books I’ll like is the book blogger holiday swap, which is why I do this every year.

I got my package in the mail yesterday (squee!) and since it wasn’t wrapped, I thought I’d throw out a thank you before Christmas to Amy at The House of the Seven Tails for the lovely present she sent.


I can’t wait to read it! (And the penguin bookmark is very cute!)

Thank you!!!

When Molly Was a Harvey Girl

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by Frances M. Wood
ages: 11+
First sentence: “By late summer, Molly could always smell the corn growing.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy sent to me by the publisher.

When I first picked up this book, I wasn’t quite sure about it. It’s an interesting premise: a couple of sisters, orphaned by their recently deceased father, decide that there is more opportunities for them out west than in Streator, Illinois. Actually, it’s the older sister, Colleen, 19, who decides that. She signs up to be a Harvey Girl — young women who worked the restaurants at the train depots on the Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway — and drags her younger sister Molly, 13, along. The problem is Molly isn’t old enough to be a Harvey Girl, so (because she’s tall for her age), they pass her off to be 18.

I thought to myself: this can’t be a middle grade book. Really. A 13-year-old passing for an 18-year-old? But, you know, it worked. And it worked for middle grade readers (and up; I could see a teen liking this book, especially a history buff). There’s so much to enjoy about the book. Mostly set in New Mexico, Wood writes with an affection for the landscape and the time period. It’s a rich book, with many layers: there’s the initial deception that the sisters pull off and all that entails, sure. But it also touches on race relations, the hunt for marriageable spouses at that time period, envy and jealousy and contention among the girls, and most of all, the hard work it took to be a Harvey Girl.

And then there was the food. It made my mouth water, the descriptions of the dishes that the Creole chef Gaston created. Heavenly stuff.

There’s so much going on, it would seem weighted down. But, Wood remembers her audience (but doesn’t talk down to them!), and keeps Molly grounded in the story. She’s a great character to follow, and while the book does take a while to get started going, it’s really worth the time put in. An excellent read.

(Just for the record: because this is a Cybils nominee, I’ve been asked to make sure y’all know this is my opinion only, and not that of the panel.)