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?

Decisions.

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Well, a decision, anyway.

I’ve decided that, until I’m getting more sleep on a regular basis, I’m not going to read any deep, intellectual, or highly scholarly books. I just can’t concentrate enough to get through them. The latest failure was What are People For? by Wendell Berry. I admire Berry; he has many good and important things to say. But this time, reading his essays only put me to sleep. Which I suppose is a good thing, seeing that I need all the sleep I can get. But I kind of feel guilty drifting off in the middle of an essay on, oh, technology and its evils, or the reasons I should be supporting local agriculture.

I’ll probaby get around to attempting to re-read this book sometime within the next year. When I’m getting more sleep.

Until then, only light, fluffy, soapy, entertaining books that I can stay awake through.

Annie, Between the States

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Keeping up the pace, even with a newborn, who has decided to have a constant bellyache (sometimes breastfeeding is so frustrating!)…

This Civil War youth fiction novel by L.M. Elliot had lots going for it, but somehow wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. I enjoyed the heroine — Annie Sinclair, a half-Irish Virginian fiercely loyal to Virginia and therefore the Confederacy, yet increasingly disturbed by both perceptions of Southerners, the attitutes of those around her towards blacks, and her growing love for a Union soldier. Makes for good melodrama. Except, I think, there was just too much. The novel spans almost the entire Civil War, and while she keeps it centered in Virginia, I often found myself skipping the war passages. Maybe it would have been better had the time been collapsed. That said, she did do an excellent job portraying the horrors of war, and how it touched every family in many varied ways — a brother looses an arm, her mother dies of diptheria, another brother becomes fiercely pro-Confederate and lusts after battle. She even spends time in a Federal prison. (Again, maybe it all was a bit too much…) I suppose, though, writing a novel set in the Civil War can’t be an easy thing to do, especially with a sympathetic Southern character. And, given that, Elliot’s book is a good read.

The Virgin’s Lover

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I couldn’t resist picking this one by Phillipa Gregory up, since I enjoyed The Queen’s Fool so much. I wasn’t disappointed, really, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had the earlier book. As far as historical fiction goes, it’s okay — it’s got lots of soap-opera style stuff, from war, to love and lust, adultry and jilted wives, and ambition… gotta love the 16th century, right? Still, it lacked a sympathetic character. Queen Elizabeth was a bit of a pushover — in love with Robert Dudley and completley at loose ends during her first two years of her reign (the time period of the book). Dudley, himself, is a bit of an arrogant prick, and not at all likeable. His wife, Amy, is — probably true to her time — weepy, boring, and garners no sympathy when she ends up dead. The only really likeable character is William Cecil, and even then, he’s not exactly endearing, being manipulative and harsh on everyone (though by the end, he’s the only one acting like an adult, and I was grateful for that). Still, it’s not a bad read — I’ve read, and finished, books I’ve liked less — it’s just that The Queen’s Fool is much better.

American Jezebel

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Although little K is sleeping well (considering she’s only a week old), 4 1/2 hours of sleep is considerably less than what I’m used to getting. So, forgive me if this doesn’t make a whole lotta sense. 🙂

I picked up this biography of Anne Hutchinson by Eve LaPlante mostly because I didn’t know anything about Anne Hutchinson, and the book itself was billed as “Anne Hutchinson: America’s founding mother” type of thing. So, I figured, let’s see what LaPlante had to say.

Well, not much. At least not much that was convincing about Hutchinson being American’s founding mother. The biography itself — which was mostly about Hutchinson’s trial and banishment from 17th century Puritan Massachusetts — was interesting. I found the whole idea of these authoritarian men confronting and banishing a woman during that time quite fascinating. Especially since LaPlante quoted extensively from the transcript of the trial.

However, the book kind of fell apart in the end. It’s not just that Hutchinson had an incredibly sudden and violent end to her life. It’s that I’m not sure you can make a case for a 17th Century Puritan woman who just happened to have had some strong opinions being the mother of modern American religious freedoms. The last two or so chapters just didn’t work, in my opinion.

What I’ve been doing

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Kristen Dorothy (all 8 pounds 15 ounces of her) was born at 4:27 a.m. on Tuesday the fourth, about 40 minutes after I checked into the hospital. I did it al natural, something I wouldn’t readily recommend to anyone. (I asked for an epidural when I got there, they told me, no, but I could have a baby…) I’ve never lost it so completely as I did while pushing this lovely girl out. Thankfully, it wasn’t my first. If it was, I may have never done this again.

Incidently, the book I ended up taking was American Jezebel, a biography of Anne Hutchinson by Eve LaPlante. I’m only half done, but I’m enjoying it. I’ll post a review when (if?) I get around to finishing it.

For now, I’m going to take a nap (though the wonderful girl slept for 5 hours last night!), since my mom’s here to play with A, and the baby’s sleeping!

Parnassus on Wheels

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First, a definition: Parnassusian (parnassus isn’t in my dictionary) — from the Greek parnasios; Parnassus, mountain in Greece sacred to Apollo and the Muses. Of or relating to poetry.

There. Now everyone’s learned something today.

This was a slim little nothing of a book, wrtitten in 1915 by Christopher Morely . But, it was totally enjoyable. I’m not sure I expected anything grand or life shattering; it wasn’t. The basic story: Helen McGill was completely content to live in the New England countryside baking bread (over 6,000 loaves, as she later calculates) and cooking meals for her brother. That is, until he decides to become “literary” and write a book. She gets increasingly put out with him and his escapades off to gather material for his books. So when Roger Mifflin stops by the farm with a wagon — the Parnassus — wanting to sell it to her brother, she up and buys it. And off starts her adventures. Which really aren’t life-shattering (though they are life-changing for her). It is amusing, though. And completely charming. I’ve been reading a lot of charming books lately, it seems. Not that there’s anything wrong with charming. It was actually quite refreshing to put down a book and think, “Now that was charming.” Maybe I wanted there to be something more — it did tie itself up quite nicely — but that’s quibbling.

Besides, I learned what a parnassus is.

Princess Academy

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Ah, there’s nothing like a good story. And this book, by Shannon Hale, is a good story. So good, in fact, that I devoured it in a few hours. Either it was really good, or I was starved for a good story. Then M picked it up, took it to her room, and emerged the next afternoon, saying (her only criticism): “It needs an Epilogue. Otherwise it’s perfect.” I’d have to agree.

It’s a simple story: the kingdom of Danland has a tradtion. On the prince’s 18th birthday, the priests of the creator god cast about for the name of the town where the prince’s bride will be. They then set up a Princess Academy, to “educate” the local girls in the way of being a princess (though, we’re told, it’s usually a formality; not so this time). The prince, at the end of the academy’s term, visits and chooses his bride. This time, the bride is supposed to be in Mt. Eskel, where Miri (a 14-year-old — my only complaint: what’s with 14 year olds getting married?) lives in a little village with her family. The profession of the village is quarrying linder, a precious stone, but Miri, because of her size (she’s overly small for her age), isn’t allowed to help. So, when the academy comes to town, Miri sees a chance to do something.

Yeah, I suppose some of it is predictable (though the prince’s choice for a bride is a surprise). Yeah, I guess it’s a tale that’s been told many times before. But Hale is such an engaging storyteller. And Miri is a worthy heroine. And, well, dang it, I liked it. A lot. If anything, it’s a great girl book. And I like those.

Criss Cross

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Could someone please tell me why this won the Newbery this year?

I couldn’t even finish it. It was pretentious, boring, and wordy. (And totally without a plot!) Maybe some fourteen-year-old has had a life changing experience reading it. I wouldn’t have, if I were fourteen.

Maybe it’s good that I’m not on the Newbery committee.

Peace Like a River

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Something about this post by Lisa made me want to read this book by Leif Enger. I went back and tried to pinpoint what it was, but couldn’t quite figure it out. Which is kind of what I felt about the book. There is something about this book, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint it. I couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was about — people kept asking me that, and I couldn’t ever really come up with an answer. It wasn’t about anything. It just was. Not that that’s a bad thing. I’m usually a plot-driven person (I usually like my books to be about something!), but I found myself drawn into this one. And I can’t quite pinpoint why. Was it the miracles? Was it the characters? Was it the writing? Don’t know. But I did finish the book, and found myself mulling over it for a day or so after. I guess it must have been good.

The Penderwicks

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This book, by Jeanne Birdsall, was sitting on the shelf of our local (tiny, of course) bookstore next to this year’s Newbery and Newbery Honor books (it won the National Book Award). It caught my eye, though. How could it not with the subtitle: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits and a Very Interesting Boy?

And I was completely charmed. It’s not a deep book — it’s a summer vacation book with four girls who get into adventures at the summer cottage they and their widowed father are renting — but it’s so well written it’s completely captivating. It’s new, yet it has the same sort of feeling about it as, oh, Half Magic or Anne of Green Gables or any of E. Nesbit’s books. It’s not perfect — there are shortcomings, and it does kind of wrap things up pretty neatly in the end. But, I was so completely captivated by it that I was willing to look aside any faults. About a chapter and a half into it, I realized that this was a perfect read-aloud book for my girls (and have since told them that they have to sit and listen to it). I’m always glad when I find a book like that.