Becky tagged me for the 6-word-memoir meme.
6 Word Memoir
1. Write your own six word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.
4. Tag five more blogs with links
5. Remember to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!
Ready?
I don’t often go off all proud of my kids (at least, not here), but C just wrote a graphic novel for submission into the Reading Rainbow young authors contest. I have no idea if she’ll win anything, but I think it’s a very cute little work, so I thought I’d share. Enjoy. (Click on the pictures to make them big enough to read….)
Our local TV columnist, Denise Neil (who also doubles as our food critic), had an interesting column today: the movies that readers think are better than the books. You can read the column here, but the jist of it was that she was complaining about how her enjoyment of a movie is usually diminished by having read the book. She writes:
“In almost every case (except “Atonement,” a great book whose movie adaptation was great in a separate but equal way), I can never appreciate the film version. I’m too concerned with what the movie is missing, what it’s skipping and what other various crimes against literature it’s committing.”
Okay, I’m generally on the same page as her here. While I think I have much looser standards than most people (I like the 1994 version of Little Women, which I know true devotes of the book hate), for the most part, I’m not necessarily always happy with movie versions of books (take the recent Dark is Rising catastrophe).
So, readers wrote in with suggestions of movies they thought were better than the books. Their choices: “The Bridges of Madison County”, “The Horse Whisperer”, “The Natural”, “Forrest Gump”, “Mystic River”,”The Last of the Mohicans”, “Cold Mountain”, “Fried Green Tomatoes”, “The Princess Diaries”
so far so good…
and the “Harry Potter” movies.
Um, really? The movies are so choppy, so over-acted. Sure, I love them and I own them, but that’s because I live in a house with Harry Potter fans. If I didn’t, I don’t think I’d like the movies at all. Rowling packs so much in her books, it’s hard to get it into a coherent and cohesive movie. With the exception of Order of the Phoenix. That, I will contend, is better (or at least as good as) the book. (I’m sure I’m not the only one who has ever made this point.)
So, it got me to thinking: what movies would you recommend over the book? And conversely, what movies are so horrible compared to the books, that you would tell people to stay away?
My (short but sweet) list:
“Age of Innocence”: maybe it was my mood, but I much preferred Daniel Day-Lewis and Michelle Pfeiffer to Edith Wharton’s stuffy novel.
“Enchanted April”: I don’t think I even made it through the book. Yawn. But the movie is a very cute movie about finding oneself. And the Italian scenery is just lovely.
“Joy Luck Club”: I like Amy Tan’s novel, but I think the movie tells the story better. Ditto for “Whale Rider”; the novel is nice, but the movie is fabulous.
Hubby would add “The Wizard of Oz” (I’m not sure if it’s better than the movie; I like them both).
Bother. I can’t think of any more off the top of my head, though I’m sure there are piles. What would you add, good and bad?
I have to admit (and this is one of those really embarrassing moments) that when I first heard the buzz about this book, I thought “Jacqueline Wilson; I’ve read a book by her. It was all right, but I’m not really that interested in reading another one.” Then I read more about Candyfloss, and how Jacqueline Wilson was one of the top British writers, and how her books have a “cheerful integrity and lack of sentimentality” (Slate.com) and I started thinking that this wasn’t the same person I was thinking of.
Then it hit me: I was mixing her up with Jacqueline Woodson. So, for the record:
Jacqueline Woodson:
and Jacqueline Wilson:.
Not the same person. Not even close.
So, when I saw Candyfloss at the library, I threw it in the pile, figuring M would like reading it. Which she did. And so, because I had some spare time, I picked it up, too. And I thought it was incredibly cute. I know that’s an overused word, and not exactly a positive one, but I think it really describes Candyfloss well. I think that it’s because it’s cute, and accessible, that the deeper themes — of separation, dealing with divorce, and making and keeping friends — come across that much better.
Floss has a problem: her step-dad, Steve, has gotten a promotion and is relocating (for six months) to Sydney. In Australia. Initially, Floss was really excited, but then she got to thinking: what about her dad? He’s not exactly well-off; he runs a run-down cafe making chip butties (they are these, in case you were wondering. I was.). Floss decides, after much thinking, that what she really wants to do is stay with her dad. And the book is the story of that decision.
I think one of the reasons this was so cute was that that the characters were so down-to-earth. I loved Floss and her father; sure he’s a flake and she’s kind of odd, but they’re good people. And normal. I liked the differences between Floss’s friend Rhiannon and her other friend Susan. I liked Rose — the candyfloss lady that Floss and her dad meet at the fair — and the whole fair atmosphere. I loved the British slang that was littered throughout the book. (I liked the semi-snide comment in the glossary at the back: “slowcoach — slowpoke. Margot tries to talk with an American accent, but she’s not very good at it. I wonder if you guys ever try to talk with a British accent?”) I won’t say that this book is perfect, but I will say that it was very good.
And I’ll probably check out Jacqueline Wilson’s other work sometime.
First, news… FYI, I’ve started archiving my Middle-grade and YA books over at the Children’s Book Reviews wiki. I guess it’s partially because after all these years, I finally want to actively expand my reader base. And it’s also partially because I can. Why not? It’s a resource people use, and I get tons of hits from Google and other search engines, so why not this. I don’t know why I feel like announcing it… perhaps because that’s the appropriate thing to do?
The other thing is a meme of sorts. I found this at Abby (the) Librarian who found this via a post on ShelfTalker. In it, ShelfTalker talks about her water bottle, which she got at Powell’s and which is kid-lit themed. On the lines marking the ounces, it gives a children’s author that would typically be appropriate for the corresponding age.
To quote:
“At the 4 ounce mark = Seuss
At the 6 ounce mark = Sendak
At the 8 ounce mark = Lobel
At the 10 ounce mark = Pilkey
At the 12 ounce mark = Cleary
At the 14 ounce mark = L’Engle
At the 16 ounce mark = Hinton”
Then she calls for our lists. What would be on YOUR water bottle? I enjoyed Abby’s lists… and it got to thinking about my own. Like her, I’d have several lists. My one from childhood would (probably) go like this:
At the 4 ounce mark = Scary
At the 6 ounce mark = Lobel
At the 8 ounce mark = Wilder
At the 10 ounce mark = Blume
At the 12 ounce mark = L’Engle
At the 14 ounce mark = Christie
At the 16 ounce mark = Anthony (Piers. Yes. I did read the Xanth books, I am ashamed to admit.)
See what I mean when I say I didn’t read YA books? I went from reading Wrinkle in Time to Agatha Christie. I jumped over a bunch of great authors. Ah, well. At least that means more for me to read now. As for books I read as an adult (and to my children), my list would have to be:
At the 4 ounce mark = Brown (as in Marc)
At the 6 ounce mark = diCamillo
At the 8 ounce mark = (M liked Dahl and Wilder, C likes Baum and Buckley)
At the 10 ounce mark = Dahl
At the 12 ounce mark = Riordan
At the 14 ounce mark = Hale
At the 16 ounce mark = Bray
I suppose I tend to lean toward the fantasy end of the book scale. I guess I just like a good escape book. 🙂 So, what would your list be?
This is one of those really good book-group books; there’s so much fodder for discussion. Talk about Sara and her relationship to her parents, especially her mother. Compare Sara’s and Maryam’s childhoods… was Maryam a good mother? Talk about Maryam’s relationship with her father. How did it affect her future and why do/don’t you think it affected her?
And the one that’s been haunting me for a couple of days: Was Maryam’s decision right?
I won’t bore you with the personal details on my end (I’d rather not, anyway), but I will say that this book threw my past up in my face (in a way; I didn’t live in Iran, obviously, and my father was — and is — actually a very kind, loving man. ) and made me assess my present. Can a person be happy in the life and love she chose even when she has had to give up something very dear to her?
I’d like to think, yes, she can.
But, one of the premises of the book — sorry for the spoilers, I don’t know how to review this without divulging it, because it’s just too personal — is that Maryam, at least, can’t. She lives with the ghosts, is haunted by her past, and ends up wrecking her life in order to face that past. I felt so bad for her husband, Edward. The only thing he ever did to deserve being left is love her. And that’s just not fair. That’s not fair of me, though, because this book isn’t about fairness.
I did like that it addressed issues of homeland and exile — is part of the reason why Maryam can’t overcome her past because she was forced to leave her country for another? (Ah, another book group question.) I liked and admired Sara; she was stuck in the middle of all this, and helplessly confused about her mother’s actions, especially since they so closely deal with Sara, herself. I liked Sara’s marriage to Julian — it was grounded, honest, and open, everything a good marriage should be. (And, I should add, very unlike her parents’. )
I’m not sorry I read this, but I do have to say it’s not one I, personally, will be reading again. The language is beautiful, the story haunting and moving. It’s just too close for comfort.
It’s a good thing this one came along — I need a break from the book I’m reading. Not because it’s bad; on the contrary, it’s quite good. But because it’s bringing up old ghosts from the past that I have to re-bury once in a while, and that makes me peevish. It’s good to have a distraction.
So, for the non-fiction meme, started by Gautami:
I’m supposed to tag 10 people, so here goes (sorry if anyone gets double-tagged):
Abby (the) Librarian
Andi
Erin
Heather at Errant Thoughts
Heather (High and Hidden Place)
Nancy aka Bookfool
Pam at Mother Reader
Shelf Elf
Softdrink at Blonde Momentos
Suey at It’s all About Books
And, now for the quiz:
| What Be Your Nerd Type?
Your Result: Literature Nerd
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Does sitting by a nice cozy fire, with a cup of hot tea/chocolate, and a book you can read for hours even when your eyes grow red and dry and you look sort of scary sitting there with your insomniac appearance? Then you fit this category perfectly! You love the power of the written word and it’s eloquence; and you may like to read/write poetry or novels. You contribute to the smart people of today’s society, however you can probably be overly-critical of works. It’s okay. I understand. |
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| Musician |
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| Drama Nerd |
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| Social Nerd |
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| Artistic Nerd |
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| Science/Math Nerd |
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| Gamer/Computer Nerd |
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| Anime Nerd |
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| What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace |
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It figures, though there was a time when the music geek and the book geek would have been switched. 🙂
I’ve heard the buzz on this for a while (as with many of my books), though I’m not quite sure what made it go from the TBR list, to the active “I’ve put a hold and am just waiting for it” pile. It’s been a while in coming; there’s a lot of Jessica Day George fans out there, and I’ve had to wait my turn.
I’m glad I finally got to bring it home.
It’s a lovely cross between Patricia Wrede’s Enchanted Chronicles series — spunky anti-heroine, who doesn’t need any rescuing and is more than willing to make friends with dragons, not to mention the plucky younger son of the king — and an Anne McCaffrey-like world creation. Dragons and humans are at odds, though not violent odds, due to a long-ago king using the dragons (against their will) to fight (and win) a war against a neighboring country. Throw in some Robin McKinley-esqe home-spun elegance (our anti-heroine, Creel, has a beautiful talent for embroidery), and you’ve pretty much got Dragon Slippers in a nutshell.
It’s not a deep or heavy book, though there are some tense moments, as well as a few ethical quandaries. Creel’s “enemies” were twits rather than malicious until near the end, so it was difficult to actually feel anything other than annoyance for them. Even when they betray Creel’s trusts. I think the reason I liked this book was for the world creation. I loved the dragons, their personalities (they don’t hoard gold — at least not all of them. They all have their individual “collections”), and the way they came to like and respect Creel. It wouldn’t have been enough to make a book work for me, though, if that’s all I liked. Creel was — like Cimorene in Enchanted Forest and Menolly in the Harper Hall triology — spunky enough and sympathetic enough to carry the book.
Which makes it a delightful way to spend an afternoon.
This is me exercising my right to give up on a book that I just am not enjoying.
This is me giving up on trying to enjoy Louise Erdrich’s books (this is the second one I’ve disliked).
This is me not writing what I really think about this book (though Hubby dared me to).
I had fairly high hopes for this one. I know I didn’t like Birchbark House, but I figured maybe it was that because Erdrich is usually an adult-fiction writer, that she just didn’t quite know how to write well for kids. It’s not that she doesn’t write well — some of her passages were quite beautiful. It’s just that there was nothing else. And after a while I lost interest in the whole first section — the story of Faye and how she came to have the drum. So, I skimmed to the second section, the story of how the drum came to be, hoping that it would be better. It was, but only marginally. And not enough for me to even care about the last two sections of the book. I wasn’t moved, I wasn’t touched, I wasn’t captivated.
So, I abandoned it. I’ve got better things to do with my time.
Not exactly a new announcement (sorry, preschool was here today, and I spent the morning dealing with annoying active four year olds), especially for the kidlit bloggers. But for the rest of you: The winners of the Cybils (the awards nominated by readers and chosen by bloggers) were announced today. I’ve read two, heard of a few more, but only one really caught my attention: The Professor’s Daughter, which won for YA graphic novel. It sounds fascinating. At any rate, head over there and check them out.
The Book Nut 