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?

I’m Starting to think I’m Crazy

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Either that, or Becky’s enthusiasm for challenges is rubbing off on me… (Especially since I’m only 1/4 of the way through my first book for the Once Upon a Time, and I haven’t started anything for the Arthur one or the other one I just joined… Still…)

But this one — hosted by Renay sounded like a lot of fun (even if I’m not a big fan of the cat pictures… sorry.). It runs from May 1 to November 30, so I may just be able to do it. Visit the link for the rules and to sign up.

My list of 10 (oh, boy this was hard, and in no particular order):
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

My three (subject to change):
1. American Born Chinese, from Dewey’s list
2. The Thief, from Mem’s list
3. Frankenstein, from Becky’s list

Mansfield Park

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This was the other Jane Austen (along with Northanger Abbey) that merited a one sentence review: “It’s not a bad book; I just like her other stuff a whole lot better. ” Actually, I’m going to change that, borrowing a line from Becky’s review of Camilla: It’s not Jane Austen’s best work, being both delightfully pleasant (I did smile a few times) and yet sluggishly dull. But it’s not my favorite Austen, and it never will be.

Why do I not like thee? Let me count the ways:

1) Fanny. She’s annoying. She’s a doormat, a pushover. Sure, she’s an upright, moral person, but what good is that if she can’t even do anything without Edmund there. Yeah, there’s the whole status thing and Mrs. Norris is sufficiently vile, but even so, I’d like her to just be slightly more assertive, or at least more something. She reminded me of Anne in Persuasion, but Anne’s so much more sympathetic. Perhaps it’s because she’s older. But Anne knows her own mind, and even though her family (and others) think little of her, she’s not a doormat. Fanny is, and that drove me nuts. That, and she spent the entire book pining for Edmund. (Mr. Crawford wasn’t that bad until the end. Okay, so their sensibilities were not similar, but he really was trying and she just sat there pining for Edmund. What if he had never come round?) She’s not a sympathetic heroine at all. Which brings me to point 2.

2) The love story was terrible. This book was a long diatribe on what Austen believed to make up a good character. She abhorred excess in all its forms — either too rich or too drunk or too poor or too flirty — and Fanny was supposed to be the model of quiet, sensible decorum. (She didn’t like the spoiling of the Bertram sisters, but she also didn’t like the excess of ill manners at her parents house.) The love story was an afterthought, only coming on in the last 50 pages. Even Northanger Abbey had a better love story. When you read Austen, you want to read good character development and societal parody but you also want a good love story. At least I do. And I was highly unsatisfied with this one. (It’s not the “kissing cousins” thing. I can deal with that. It’s the “Edmund’s in love with Miss Crawford for the entire book and it’s just because she wasn’t horrified enough — or at all, really — at the actions of Henry and Maria and so Edmund realized that he could not marry someone who couldn’t be horrified at running away with someone else’s wife and that means Fanny has to be perfect” thing. Bleh.)

3) All the other characters. Enough said. Mrs. Norris was vile, evil, and I wanted to smack her. No wonder Maria went wrong. Sir Thomas and Lady Betram were lazy and Mrs. Norris was just a snob. She’s worse than Lady Catherine deBerg, too, because Mrs. Norris really has no reason to be a snob. She’s someone Lady Catherine would look down on. That makes it worse. Lady Bertram was as much a pushover as Fanny (maybe that’s why they got along?). Sir Thomas was a flip-flopper, sometimes being nice to Fanny, sometimes being a real jerk. Edmund was a twit. Sorry. See above. Tom was a drunk (at least he reformed). The Bertram sisters were shallow flirts and Maria got what she deserved. No pity. Mary Crawford was also a shallow, money grubbing flirt who could have been okay, but Austen decided that no, the only “decent” person in the book is going to be the pushover Fanny. And then there’s Henry. I actually liked him until he ran off with Maria. He wasn’t too bad; a bit of a flirt, but he was actually fun and interesting (and he read and acted well).

Mansfield Park isn’t an Austen book I’m going to come back to any time soon. I’d say that’s too bad, but I’m perfectly happy with the Austen books I do like.

Sisters Grimm: The Problem Child

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I have to admit: this series is losing a bit of its charm for me. Sure, C’s still enjoying it (and Hubby’s even been listening in), but I’m feeling like it’s getting a bit stale: the same jokes, the same cuteness, the same story. It’s suffering from the “series syndrome”: Buckley’s trying to give someone who picks up this book enough back story so the book makes sense, but in the process completely bores those of us who’ve read books one and two. I skipped paragraphs, pages even, of information that we already knew (C would say, “We know that, already. Skip it.”).

But… the story picked up about two-thirds of the way through. When Sabrina and their newly “found” Uncle Jake finally (mostly) give up whining and complaining and actually start doing something: finding the pieces of the Vorpal Blade so they can kill the Jabberwocky, but more importantly, cut a hole in the barrier so they can take Puck to the faeries because he got his wings ripped off by the Jabberwocky while he was trying to save the Grimm sisters. (Whew.) The taking Puck to the faeries is the fourth book, but the adventures they had to put the Vorpal Blade together (okay, I did like the way Buckley utilized Lewis Carrol in this book) were fun. We met the not-so-Little Mermaid, Baba Yaga and figured out who The Blue Fairy is (from Pinocchio; she’s the most powerful Everafter because she has the power to give life). The ending was even okay, mostly because while it was a bit of a cliff-hanger, it wasn’t nearly as suspenseful or hate-inducing as the last two books.

So, we’re going to keep plugging on with the series (can’t give up in the middle). And I’m hoping that the next two books make me like the series as much as I did in the beginning.

Fueling an Old Interest

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I used to say that I had an abiding love and passion for anything Arthurian. I do, still, I think, but I haven’t really given into the pleasure that is a well-written Arthurian tale for quite a while. (Save Song of the Sparrow, which I really enjoyed.) I’m going to re-read Mary Stewart’s Merlin trilogy for the Once Upon a Time Challenge (which I haven’t forgotten; I just haven’t read anything yet…) but then Becky came up with a whole challenge devoted to Arthur and I figured I could come up with 6 books that I’d like to read.

Basic rules: read 6-12 books about Arthur (doesn’t matter what they are; fiction, non-fiction, YA and adult all acceptable) between April 2008 and May 2009. Easy peasy.

I think I’m going to count the Mary Stewart trilogy (Becky said it can count as three books…) — The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills and The Last Enchantment — and either T.A. Barron’s Great Tree of Avalon series (I liked the Merlin series well enough), or Rosemary Sutcliff’s trilogy: The Sword and the Circle, The Light Beyond the Forest, and Road to Camlann. If I’m really feeling ambitious, maybe I’ll even find a translation of Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory and read that. I’ve always kind of felt like I can’t really call myself an Arthurian devotee without having read it…

Sword of the Rightful King, Jane Yolen
Grail Prince, Nancy McKenzie
The Acts of King Arthur and his Noble Knights, John Steinbeck

The Willoughbys

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This is one book, I think, that you’ll either really really love… or just not get. It’s by Lois Lowry, known more for her thought-provoking Newbery winners, and I think many people just won’t know what to do with it. However, I am solidly in the former category: I grinned the whole way through, gratefully in on the joke (or parody), eating up the snide remarks and sarcasm. It’s like Lemony Snicket’s books, but better. Much better.

I’d write a long review myself, but Fuse #8 and Sarah Miller both wrote such eloquent reviews (and I can’t think of anything else to say that would add much), I think I’ll send you over there instead. Read them, be entertained, pick up the book. You won’t be sorry.

Oh, and I’m thinking that this one would make a fabulous read-aloud. I’m going to foist it upon C right after we finish our latest Sisters Grimm. Hopefully, she’ll love it as much as I did.

(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. Thank you.)

Dairy Queen: A Novel

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This book has been flying around the kidlit blogs for a long time with statements along the lines of: if you haven’t read Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s Dairy Queen then you MUST go read it NOW.

Add my voice to the throng. You must go read this now. (Or, as soon as possible.)

D.J. Schwenk, from Red Bend, Wisconsin, is many things: 15 (almost 16), single-handily holding down/running the family dairy farm, from a family who loves and lives for football, someone who flunked English, and someone who’s just trying to figure life out. So, when the coach of the Hawley High team (you have to understand that Red Bend and Hawley just don’t hate, they loathe each other) asks D.J. if she’d train the quarterback, Brian Nelson, she just about flips. But… she says yes. And he comes. And they realize it’s a good thing. Which opens up a huge can of worms (kind of like Pandora), and turns D.J.’s summer into one of the worst (and best) ones she’s ever had.

It’s not a complicated book, but it’s got sass. I loved the tone of the book, and because I loved the way it was written, I loved D.J. There is a intimacy to it: because it’s D.J.’s words, thoughts and feelings, you get the flavor of D.J. through her faults and worries, but also you glimpse her strengths, hopes and accomplishments. I was constantly laughing at her spot-on observations, especially about cows and people, and she had me spellbound with her storytelling. She’s got a normal, yet somehow messed up, family and she’s just trying to make sense of her place in it (what 16-year-old isn’t?) and in high school. Even though it’s got a bit of buildingsroman in it — D.J. trying to figure out how to grow up and make sense of the world and her desires — it never feels maudlin. Perhaps because it’s a bit chatty, for a novel, but I found it forgiveable, because I loved D.J.’s voice and passion so much.

It’s also a love song to football. Everyone in D.J.’s family has a passion for playing and living the game, and it came through loud and clear: football was not just a game, it was a way of life. I was a bit of a fan back before I married a guy who didn’t know a quarterback from a halfback, and I still follow “my” team through the newspapers, though I don’t watch much any more. (They’re not my team, but how about those Jayhawks?!) I felt like this book was accessible and enjoyable to those who know football, but it also is one that anyone who has a passion for anything could also relate to. D.J. has an immense love — passion — for the game, and that was only strengthened by her love for her family — especially her father and older brothers.

Really, my only complaint about the book was the cover. I mean cows with tiaras are okay enough, but someone must not have read the book before doing that. The paperback cover has it better:

And there you have it: a girl, a boy, a summer, a game and a really great book.

Djinn in the Nightengale’s Eye

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A couple years ago, when I read Possession (also by A. S. Byatt), my friend Julie recommended this collection of fairy stories, saying that I would LOVE it. She’s almost right: I liked it, but it fell short of LOVE. (Sorry, Julie.)

I really liked the first three stories: “The Glass Coffin”, which was a Snow White-esque story with a tailor instead of a prince waking up the imprisoned princess; “Gode’s Story,” a somewhat complex story about a man who wanted a woman, cursed her to wait for him, dumped her when she became haunted, married another and then became haunted when the first woman killed herself; and, my favorite,”The Story of the Eldest Princess,” where she goes off on a quest, but because she’s read so many stories, ends up opting out of the whole quest thing and instead hooks up with an old healer woman.

The other two stories — “Dragon’s Breath” and the title one — were okay, but not nearly as enjoyable. My complaints with Djinn, especially, are similar to the ones I had about Possession: too much extra stuff, but not enough plot. When it finally got around to the plot, I really enjoyed it: what would you do if you had access to a personal djinn? (And, what is it that a woman most desires? They never answer that one.)

It really was a collection of stories about stories. Sometimes, it worked — like in “The Eldest Princess”; sometimes, not so much, like in “Dragon’s Breath”. But when it worked, it worked really well, and I was captivated by the writing — Byatt is a really descriptive writer; I just wish she’d be a tighter writer. Perhaps that’s why the shorter stories appealed to me more: the writing was tighter, the stories more linear and less circular. They worked better for me.

Maybe sometimes I do “get” short stories. Funny.

48 Hour Book Challenge

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I’ve been wanting to do this for two years. (I think I caught the tail end of the first one, and I wanted to do it last year, but my in-laws were in town, and it wouldn’t have been fair to them if I spent the weekend they were here reading…) Anyway, I think — I hope — that there’s nothing going on that weekend, and I’d love to spend it reading! Here are the rules:

  1. The weekend is June 6–8, 2008. Read and blog for any 48-hour period within the Friday-to-Monday-morning window. Start no sooner than 7:00 a.m. on Friday the sixth and end no later than 7:00 a.m. Monday. So, go from 7:00 p.m. Friday to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday… or maybe 7:00 a.m. Saturday to 7:00 a.m. Monday works better for you. But the 48 hours do need to be in a row.

  2. The books should be about fifth-grade level and up. Adult books are fine, especially if any adult book bloggers want to play. If you are generally a picture book blogger, consider this a good time to get caught up on all those wonderful books you’ve been hearing about. No graphic novels. I’m not trying to discriminate, I’m just trying to make sure that the number of books and page counts mean the same thing to everyone.

  3. It’s your call as to how much you want to put into it. If you want to skip sleep and showers to do this, go for it. If you want to be a bit more laid back, fine. But you have to put something into it or it’s not a challenge.

  4. The length of the reviews are not an issue. You can write a sentence, paragraph, or a full-length review. The time spend reviewing counts in your total time.

  5. For promotion/solidarity purposes, let your readers know when you are starting the challenge with a specific entry on that day. Write your final summary on Monday, and for one day, we’ll all be on the same page, so to speak.

  6. Your final summary needs to clearly include the number of books read, the approximate hours you spent reading/reviewing, and any other comments you want to make on the experience. It needs to be posted no later than noon on Monday, June 9th.

  7. Sign up in today’s comments. You’re welcome to post the challenge on your site. Point them to today’s post to sign up. On Friday, June 6, I’ll have a starting-line post where you can sign in to say you’re officially starting the challenge.

Head over to Mother Reader to sign up. Hope to see you there!

The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower

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This one — by Lisa Graff, whose group blog, The Longstockings, I’ve followed for a while — had me on the edge of my seat. Not really out of suspense, though; it was mostly because I was anxious. Anxious for Bernetta, anxious because the story is pretty over-the-top, anxious because the situations made me anxious. I had to put down the book every once in a while and just get up and walk around (or go do something else), just so I could get away from the story. But I would find myself thinking about it, almost instantly, and end up back in a chair with the book until I got too anxious again.

I’m not even sure if anxious is the right word. Concerned? Worried? Stressed? Nope… it’s anxious.

The plot is simple: Bernetta Wallflower, at the end of her sixth-grade year, is framed by her ex-best friend Ashley, for running a school-wide cheating ring. Bernetta is grounded (for life or until her tonsils grow back), suspended, and has her scholarship to Mt. Olive private school revoked. Which means, she has the summer to come up with the tuition: $9000. It seems impossible until she meets Gabe, who uses Bernetta’s talent for doing magic tricks to help with his plan to “raise” money.

In spite of my anxiousness, I really liked this book. It was very funny — never talking down, always smart — and the while the plot is way over-the-top (I mean really, is this even plausible? Really?), I was happy to go along for the ride. Bernetta is a charming character, one that I could easily identify (who hasn’t been framed for something they didn’t do, even if it isn’t a cheating ring?) and sympathize with. I loved her family — including her very nice older sister Elsa to her silly younger brother Colin — and even enjoyed the relationship Bernetta formed with Gabe.

And even the ending fit the book, which I wasn’t expecting. I was expecting either a grand set up with a grand fall, or something more out of the movies. What I got was a simple, effective ending that was true to Bernetta’s character without losing anything from the tone of the book. Graff found a way to make the whole con business just reasonable enough without making it too appealing, which isn’t an easy task.

Now, if I could just shake the anxious feeling….

(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. Thank you.)