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 Saffron Kitchen

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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.

A Meme and a Quiz

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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:

  • a) What issues/topic interests you most–non-fiction, i.e, cooking, knitting, stitching, there are infinite topics that has nothing to do with novels? Travel books, food books, memoirs, and humor, mostly.
  • b) Would you like to review books concerning those? Sure… and I do, whenever I read one.
  • c) Would you like to be paid or do it as interest or hobby? Tell reasons for what ever you choose. I have come to think, in the last year, that it’d be nice to be paid for my reviews. Partially, because I’d like the recognition, because being paid means you’ve “arrived” on some level. But partially because we could use the money.
  • d) Would you recommend those to your friends and how? If it’s a book I enjoyed of course I would. I usually just shout it from the rooftops… or my blog. 🙂
  • e) If you have already done something like this, link it to your post. Here’s a link to all the non-fiction books I’ve read in the past 3 1/2 years. (There are a couple of links to books I read prior to starting my blog, too. I’m embarrassingly organized. )
  • f) Please don’t forget to link back here or whoever tags you. Iliana (thank you!)

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
 

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.
Musician
 
Drama Nerd
 
Social Nerd
 
Artistic Nerd
 
Science/Math Nerd
 
Gamer/Computer Nerd
 
Anime Nerd
 
What Be Your Nerd Type?
Quizzes for MySpace

It figures, though there was a time when the music geek and the book geek would have been switched. 🙂

Dragon Slippers

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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.

The Painted Drum

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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.

Cybils

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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 Sisters Grimm: The Fairy-Tale Detectives

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After finishing Matilda, C — being swayed by M’s recent discovery of and enthusiasm for these books — begged to start the Sisters Grimm, by Michael Buckley. And we’re both glad we did; it was a whole lot of clever fun.

Sabrina, age 11, and Daphne, age 7, were orphaned a year and a half ago and have been bumping around foster homes ever since. Until they get sent to Ferryport Landing to live with their supposed grandmother, Relda Grimm. It’s there that they learn the truth: the Grimms are not collectors of tales, but rather historians of the true events that people call “fairy tales”. The characters are real. The events are real. Daphne buys into it right away, but it takes Granny Relda (and her companion, Mr. Canis) being kidnapped by a giant to convince Sabrina. There’s a daring rescue, betrayal, and a bunch of fairy-tale insider jokes along the way.

C ate this one up. She was actually reminding me — begging me! — to read every night. She didn’t want me to stop, especially if the chapter ended with a cliff-hanger (which they often did). She made me swear that I wouldn’t read ahead (I was good), and then asked questions about how it was going to turn out. She begged information off of M (who would listen in and make cryptic comments now and again — she’s read all 5 and knows more of the story than we do), who was pretty good about not giving C too much. It was exciting and fun to read (more accents!) and very well-written, too.

We’ve got the second one on hold… and are waiting eagerly to see what happens next with Sabrina and Daphne.

The Carnival of Awesomeness Totally Rocks (And other Announcements)

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The February Bookworms Carnival is up over at Renay’s, and she totally and completely outdid herself. Go check it out. Be amazed. Worship the ground she walks on (well, maybe not that… but you could comment). As a brief reminder, next month’s carnival is being hosted by The Armenian Odar Reads. Her theme is Women in Literature, and you can send posts by March 14th to armenianodar at yahoo dot com.

I also did the drawing for the Expanding Horizons contest on Saturday (I should have taken a picture of C pulling a piece of paper out of a basket)… and the winner was BECKY. She chose the Whale Rider pack and Thin Mints (yum!). Congrats! (I thought about complaining about how few people participated — there was only 4! What the heck? — but I’ll refrain. Just barely.)

Song of the Sparrow

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I loved this book.

Sure, I have a bit of a soft spot for books about the Arthurian legend, and so I would have probably liked this book anyway. But, it was a beautiful story, a captivating take on the legend, masterfully written.

It’s written in free verse, and I couldn’t imagine it being done any other way. The simplicity of the text brought out the story, the emotions, the choice of words that much stronger. And because of that, they — and the story — resonated in a way that longer, more detailed works haven’t.

Lisa Ann Sandell takes a new perspective on the story, writing it from Elaine’s point of view. (She’s the infamous Lady of Shalott; if you’re good, you will have read Tennyson’s poem. If you’re like me, you will mostly know her from Anne of Green Gables.) Elaine’s mother died 8 years ago, and ever since then, she’s lived with her father and brothers in the war camp. Lancelot is her hero, her friend, as is all the rest of the men: Arthur himself, Gawain, and (in an intriguing, and brilliant, twist) Tristan (from Tristan and Isolde). Elaine’s happy enough, spending her days mending and healing and being in nature. And then life changes: Arthur becomes the dux bellorum (the war chieftain), and Gwynivere arrives.

It’s a simple enough plot, but between the characterizations (I had tears streaming down my face at the end), and the elegance of the poetry, the book is a captivating read.

I really have only one complaint: the cover. It’s a beautiful enough cover, but I became annoyed with it because of both the description on the blurb (“Elaine has a temperament as fiery as her long red hair”) and this passage:

Eyes of hazel-green like forest ferns
and mud,
and long, thick hair my father once told me
was the color of wheat and summer strawberries.

I ask you: does that girl have hair the color of wheat and summer strawberries? No. She has dishwater blonde hair, the color mine was in high school. This is wheat and summer strawberries:
I do have to admit that it wouldn’t bother me as much if I didn’t have a red-haired daughter. Still, I won’t let the cover get in the way of highly recommending this book. It truly is wonderful.

The Year of Living Biblically

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I’ve had my eye on this for a little while; I know it’s been making the blog rounds where it’s been getting overwhelmingly positive reviews. So, when Hubby’s colleague loaned it to us a month ago, I jumped at the chance to skip the hold line at the library and actually read the book.

A. J. Jacobs is a man with a mission, crazy though it might be (especially for an agnostic, secular Jew): to live the teachings of the Bible — all of them — as literally as possible for an entire year. He grows a huge beard, he wears white, he dances with joy, he sacrifices an animal (well, pays to have one sacrificed), he prays… the list goes on.

It’s an ambitious project, as Jacobs soon finds out; he’s attempting to do in one year what most people don’t accomplish in a lifetime. But he’s game, almost naively so, to give it a try. And the result is a funny, fascinating, enlightening book.

Jacobs spends eight months of the year exploring the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, partially because he’s Jewish (at least by heritage) and partially because so much of the Bible (comparatively speaking) is made up of the Old Testament. It’s an interesting journey, full of bumps and starts and failures and revelations. I thoroughly enjoyed his journey with prayer; being reminded, in the process, of things that I could be doing better. I enjoyed his experiences with the weirder aspects of the Bible (like not wearing mixed fibers), and his
ultimate realization that sometimes you do things just because God asked you. I liked the New Testament part less, mostly because — and Jacobs admits that this is a problem — without believing in Jesus as the Savior, the New Testament isn’t as easy to follow. Still, he makes a go at it, exploring many facets of Christianity (including snake handlers… go figure) with an open mind.

It helps that Jacobs is a witty, engaging writer, as well as an honest and forthright one (well that is one of the commandments, after all). It’s an excellent read.

Expanding Horizons: February Prize Package

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I’m so happy with the way things are going. I’m behind, but I promise I’ll read two books this month (not that you care, but making it public may help me to keep up!)… I’ve really enjoyed reading all the reviews that people have been posting, and my TBR list is growing by leaps and bounds.

So… February’s prize pack (remember I said I had to do several so each of my girls could have a turn drawing for them?) has a Native peoples theme (plus some goodies) and a decision for you to make: either Whale Rider, the movie (because it’s one of my favorites) and Whale Rider the book; or The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, your choice. I’m throwing in a box of Girl Scout cookies (because C is selling them; you have a choice between Thin Mints, Thanks-a-lot, and Lemonades because that’s what we’ve ordered) for good measure, and because we’ll have them around the house.

But you just don’t get this for nothing. The catch: You have one week — until Friday, February 8th, to read and comment on one-third of the reviews that have been posted. That’s 11 people (other than yourself). Then come back here, comment that you’ve done it, and I’ll enter you in the drawing on February 9th.

I’ll open this up to anyone who wants to go and comment, even if you haven’t posted a review yet.

Have fun!