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?

Geeky Quote Week #5

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Because it’s my birthday today, I had to have a quote that had cake in it 🙂 Amend it to say YA romance, and it’s spot on.

“Romance novels are birthday cake and life is often peanut butter and jelly. I think everyone should have lots of delicious romance novels lying around for those times when the peanut butter of life gets stuck to the roof of your mouth.” — Janet Evanovich

Grail Prince

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Hunky/scary man aside (I’m leaning toward scary, personally… he weirds me out), this is not a romance. It has romance in it — in fact love is central to the plot — but it’s not a foray into the bodice-ripping genre. Which is not necessarily a bad thing; it just wasn’t what I was expecting from the cover.

This book picks up the Arthurian legend after Arthur has died (there’s flashbacks to the last years of Arthur’s reign, so I’m counting it for the Arthur challenge), with Galahad, son of Lancelot, and his search for the Grail. It’s a long and torturous journey, partially because Galahad is a bit of a single-minded twit, but it’s fairly interesting. He wanders all over Britain, taking his friend Percival back to Wales, challenging the kings of the north, serving for right and justice, fighting for Constantine, falling in love with Percival’s sister Dandrane, and essentially being a Hero. The quest is interspersed with sections flashing back to Galahad’s childhood, his relationship (or lack thereof) with his mother, Elaine –I’m not sure if this is true to the legends or not — and Lancelot, and how he became to be that single-minded twit.

It was an interesting story, but one that didn’t quite do it for me. Perhaps it was because Galahad is so unlikeable for most of the book — he’s unmerciful (cruelly castrating a man for raping a king’s daughter), he’s judgemental (especially of Lancelot and Gueneviere), he’s dismissive and suspicious of women (oh, boy is he!), he’s obsessive… in short, he’s frustrating. Incredibly so. Which makes the book, itself, hard to like. It has to be that way, though, for Galahad Learns many Important Lessons about Life and Love (and mercy, and judging, and relationships, and responsibility) before he can find the grail. Which is another thing I didn’t like: it got almost heavy-handed, preaching about all the things that Galahad was deficient in (sinning by being sinned against, to put a religious spin on it?) and how he had to reform himself (which he began to do because he fell in love) before he could be the Worthy Knight everyone thought he was.

I also found it interesting that McKenzie rewrote a bit of the legends, giving Elaine a much more defined (and sinister) role, and chasitifying the relationship between Lancelot and Gueneviere. They loved each other, but they were noble about that love, never giving in to it. Which was okay, but not the legends I was used to.

All those elements should have added up to a good book… but they just didn’t. It wasn’t that it was bad… but maybe what I really did want was more bodice-ripping?

Geeky Quote Week #1

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This week’s Weekly Geek is a quote a day. I’m excited because that means I can (hopefully) collect a bunch more for my sidebar book thoughts!! YAY!!!

M’s middle school is trying a 25 book initiative this year (read 25 books during the school year)…. I asked M if she could handle that. She rolled her eyes and said, “I don’t know mom. Maybe?” Anyway, they had a little orientation/information thingy about it at the recent open house. This was one of the quotes that they put up:

“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates’ loot on Treasure Island and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life.” — Walt Disney

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

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I read the first Diary of a Wimpy kid last year, and absolutely loved it. So, I had high hopes for this book. Possibly a mistake. Because, in spite of my best efforts, this one just did not make me laugh.

I think I just found it annoying. As a narrator (and illustrator), Greg was more irritating than witty. As were his family (shoot me if I ever act like his parents) and friends. The story was kind of lame, too — not that I expected more there — as was the ending. I ended up rolling my eyes more than chuckling (though there were a few chuckles). I guess it just didn’t live up to the expectations I had for it.

To be fair, though, my 8-year-old, C, loved it. Perhaps this is one of those situations where I’m just too old.

Ah, well.

2008 Challenge #5: I Heard it Through the Grapevine

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I know this challenge is still going on until November 30th, but I’ve deemed September “finish up challenge month”. We’ll see if I can do it. 🙂

I read:
1. Swordspoint, by Ellen Kushner.
2. John Adams, by David McCullough
3. Persepolis Vol 1 and 2, by Marjane Satrapi

I think it’s a tie between John Adams and Persepolis as to which one is my favorite. At any rate, I enjoyed knocking a few books off my TBR list!

Thanks Lynne, for hosting the challenge!

Geeky Book Interviews

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I had a ton of fun with this week’s Weekly Geek. I was paired with Heather of A Lifetime of Books… and thoroughly enjoyed chatting with her. As she pointed out — we both ended up reviewing books that were similar — memoirs/biographies — so it almost looked like we planned it that way on purpose.

First off, the book I read, John Adams by David McCullough:


Why did you decide to read this book?
Way back when my blog was young, I read Setting the World Ablaze. The one thing I got from that book was how under-appreciated John Adams is. In the comments, someone recommended this one to me. But… I forgot about it until my dad reminded me about it in March. It took the I Heard it Through the Grapevine challenge though to actually get me to read the book.

Did you watch the mini-series on TV a few months back? If so, how does it compare to the book?

I haven’t. It’s on my Netflix queue, but I wanted to read the book before I watched the mini-series. I’ve heard that it’s really good, though.

Was this a challenging read? Why/why not?

Yes, and no. Yes because it encompasses a HUGE amount of time — more than 50 years of detailed accounts — which is a lot to handle in any book. It’s 650 pages of John Adams. But no, because David McCulllough is a great writer. I usually have a problem with biographies because I find them stuffy, but McCullough makes the research and the letters incredibly accessible and engaging.

What are two or three things that you learned that really surprised you?

How much Adams did behind the background. He never was a charismatic leader or even a terribly popular one, but he was tireless. In the same vein, I was impressed how visionary Adams was. He saw the evils of party politics:

“There is nothing I dread so much as a division of the Republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader and converting measures in opposition to each other,” Adams had observed to a correspondent while at Amsterdam, before the Revolution ended. Yet this was exactly what had happened The “turbulent maneuvers” of factions, he now wrote privately, could “tie the hands and destroy the influence” of every honest man with a desire to serve the public good. There was “division of sentiments over everything,” he told his son-in-law William Smith. “How few aim at the good of the whole, without aiming too much at the prosperity of parts.”

And he predicted that slavery would be a big issue, possibly leading to war. The other thing — that I knew, but was impressed with again — is that you can’t write a biography of Adams without making Jefferson a big part of it. Their lives, for good or ill, were intertwined. And I found that interesting.

Was the relationship between John and his wife, Abagail, typical of the time period or was it unique? Is that your own opinion or is there something in the book that led you to that conclusion?

I’ve long been impressed with Abigail Adams — she was a hero of mine since I read a biography of her in middle school. That said, I’m not sure if their relationship was unique. It probably was, but because we don’t know much about other relationships from the time, it’s hard to tell. What was unique was the amount of letters that they wrote. And it’s because they were both prolific writers that we even know about their relationship at all.

Did this book alter your impression of any historical figures? In what way?

Ah. Jefferson. He did some great things, but he was not a great man. The history books have unfailingly altered Jefferson. Same with Franklin, too. And I had no idea that Alexander Hamliton was such a creep. Brilliant, but really really warped.

Do you think the author gave an unbiased review of Adams’ life? Was there an apparent or implied message that the author was hoping to convey in this book?

No. I don’t think McCullough was unbiased. I think he was fair — Adams was not perfect (he had two alcoholic sons, one of whom died at age 30, and he was incredibly vain and easily hurt) — but you could tell as a reader about the affection that McCullough had for Adams. He really liked this man. And, by the end of the book, so did I. I think McCullough’s just attempting to change the perception — or lack of one, for who really thinks of John Adams — of Adams and put out there how much he really did for the country, not just during the revolution, but his whole life. (One little side note: he worked tirelessly — and was unpopular for it– for peace with France during his term as president. McCullough makes this statement later: “Bonaparte abandoned his plans and suddenly, in 1803, offered to sell the United States all of the vast, unexplored territory of Louisiana. It was an astounding turn of events and one that would probably not have come to pass had the Quasi-War burst into something larger. Were it not for John Adams making peace with France, there might never have been a Louisiana Purchase.”)

What type of reader would you recommend this book to? Why?

Definitely history buffs. But I think the average reader — one who is willing to invest the time in this book, because it does take time — will enjoy it. It’s enjoyable, it’s interesting, and hopefully, they’ll come away with as much respect for Adams as I did.

And the questions I asked Heather about her book, Life is So Good by George Dawson. (Be sure to check out her post with the interview; she’s got a picture of her Gram reading the book!)

I haven’t read the book (or even heard of it before — I’m slow!) so can you give me a bit of a summary without too many spoilers?

This is the true story of George Dawson, the grandson of a slave, who was born in the late 1890s and grew up on a farm in Texas. Age the age of 98 he decided to learn to read. Going back to school at that age brought him to the attention of the media, and this book is the result.
What led you to pick this book up?

I read this book after seeing it reviewed here. Because another review led me to read it, it was perfect for the Irresistible Review Challenge. I failed the challenge because I didn’t complete this one in time, but that’s perfectly ok with me (I had a really good reason – see my answer to the next question for details).

Easy one: did you enjoy it? Why or why not?
I LOVED this book. It was very readable and always kept my interest. I liked how each some of the chapters began with news from the time period, and continued with what was going on in George’s life at that time.
After just a few chapters I was telling my Gram (she’s 84) about it and she asked if she could borrow it. Of course I said yes. As I mentioned in this post, Gram isn’t a big reader so I was quite impressed when she finished it in just a few weeks. She says it was a wonderful book, and that George is a lovely man. She really enjoyed reading this book.

Was his life really “so good”? Why did the book have that title? Do you think it fit?
George had a difficult life, but he was always happy. He lived in the moment, not worrying about what tomorrow would bring. He didn’t expect things to be perfect, he didn’t expect people to be kind (at least, not all the time) and he didn’t believe that anyone owed him anything. Based on that, you may think that he was depressed, or pessimistic, or something like that, but he wasn’t. He just took life as it came and made the best of it every day.
For him, life really was “so good” … it’s a perfect title for the book.
Did you learn anything you didn’t already know?

Yes! I learned how different life really was for “colored” people [George’s word] in the South in the first half of the 20th century. Of course I knew about segregation, and the Klan, and things like that. But it’s the little things that I just had no clue about that really struck me.
I also learned a bit about “riding the rails”. Train-hopping-hobos make appearances in many novels of the time, but George’s experiences give a bit more life to these faceless masses of moving people.
There are so many things I learned from this book, but nothing that I would say is “profound” … it’s just the details of life that are often overlooked that were so fascinting to me.

Would you recommend it? Why or why not?

I would whole-heartedly recommend this book. I can’t think of any reason NOT to like it. Ok, maybe I’d like an “Afterword” that tells me when happened to George after the book was published, but hey, you can find that on the internet so it’s really not a big deal. This is a lovely book, an easy and captivating read, and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Estella’s Up

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I am reading… but it’s David McCullough’s huge biography of John Adams. And while I’m thoroughly enjoying it (review by the end of the week. Promise.), it makes for some slow blogging.

In the meantime, check out the September Issue of Estella’s Revenge! I did a book tour of stores we stopped at while we were on vacation, as well as a couple reviews — Undone (an intriguing YA book) and Rules for Saying Goodbye (I don’t get satire). There’s also a clever piece by Stuart (I love his stuff…) on how to start a literary argument, as well as an interesting history of the Ghostbusters (of all things!). In addition to other reviews and features.

What are you waiting for? Go and enjoy Andi and Heather’s hard work. 🙂