Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

I’ve held off on posting a review of Watchmen because I’d been hoping to see the movie first, which is available on HBO On Demand right now, but the Writer wants to see it too and our schedules have prevented us from finding the couple hours necessary.

The main reason I want to see the movie is to see how they handled some pretty unlikable characters – The Comedian is a US army shill who tried to rape a fellow hero, Rorschach has the morality of Scott Roeder – able to justify vicious crimes by his uncompromising sense of morality, Doctor Manhattan has all but lost his humanity.  I appreciated the sensitivity with which Silk Spectre’s affair with Nite Owl II was handled – while not middle-aged myself, I enjoy seeing a love story between adults who have pasts.  I’m not sure if I was supposed to see Nite Owl as slightly pathetic – he really did look owlish, and not particularly heroic, in costume.

The other element that would seem difficult to translate to the screen is the layering, not only of each character’s arcs and flashbacks to earlier days of glory, as well as faux documents interleaved into the books, but also the framing and commentary provided by the pirate comic books being read by a young man sitting at a news stall.  It’s occasionally a bit too on the nose, using “voiceover” in the pirate story to comment quite directly on the moral quandaries facing would-be heroes.

Ultimately, I am glad I read Watchmen, but I’m not sure I was entertained by it.  The lack of sympathetic characters, the unrelenting negativity (it’s a Cold War work, focusing on Russians, the bomb, the economy, gang violence) – I enjoyed looking for all the literary allusions (the Gordian Knot lock company and so on) and was repaid with them being significant to the plot, but I really just wanted a happy ending.

[Via http://subwaybookclub.wordpress.com]

The Orc King by R.A. Salvatore

I mentioned RA Salvatore in my previous Book Review so I thought I’d throw this one up that I wrote in 2007.  He is one of the few authors I buy the hardback.  Check that, my dad buys them and passes it on to me.

Ah yes… everyone’s ‘favorite’ drow is back and just as invincible as before.  In fact, the beginning of the book kisses his dark backside right away.  Glimpse into the future, my brothers and sisters, and see the disgusting truth.

Yes, I realize that when a character becomes popular, the last thing an author wants to do is kill him off.  I imagine that’s why both Wulfgar and Bruenor both came back from the dead in various books.  Of course Wulfgar became the very first emo barbarian ever.  OMG!  My life is ruined… WAAAA!!  How about Cattibrie? Can’t have a fierce warrior woman so let’s maim her and say she’s going to turn pussy mage then, okay?

But I digress.  The fact is that the reason I keep reading the Whore of Wizards books is because, quite simply, he writes well.  I like the way he weaves a tale, even if it is at the askance of his evil overlords in the Tower of Hasbro. Well MAYBE it doesn’t go that way but it sure seems that way.  Of course this book hints in switching the characters over to the ‘new and improved’ 4e.

Remember the first Drizzt Drow (as I call it) books?  He comes out of the Underdark and loses his innate drow powers… then BAM! 3e comes along and he mysteriously has them again.  I call

bullshit.

Am I digressing again?  My bad.

The story starts out in the future, assuring that the fanboi’s of Drizzt will still be bowing to the cock of Salvatore for a good long time… Oops… did it again… Er, showing that orcs and dwarves are living in peace with the rest of the races.

W T F ? ! ?

They’ve gone bat shit crazy!  Is this to appease the whiney little gits out there that say… but all orcs can’t be bad because all drow aren’t bad because…. Etc….etc….  What’s next?  An emissary from the kobold kingdom marches into Silverymoon for tea with Lady Alustriel?  Oh… that’s right… they decided to do a little ‘cosmetic’ work to FR, didn’t they? Sigh….

Okay, the basic plot to this story is Many-Arrows has decided to back off on fighting Mithral Hall.  His dream is to have an orc kingdom, not keep going on a bloody rampage and use his followers as cannonfodder.  There’s only one problem… another orc, Grguch, doesn’t really like that idea and he feeds the bloodlust of other orcs (and his own half ogre/half orc breeds).  They rampage through Moonwood, killing off Cattiebrie’s elf competition Innovindil and her Pegasus.  They attack the dwarves as they try to repair the trade routes.  Hot-headed Bruenor wants a war and goes seeking it with a small group.  It’s the whole “kill the head and the serpent dies” ploy.

Well Many-Arrows doesn’t die.  I never figured he would, honestly, but Grguch does along with Jack the Gnome.  I’d say more about the Gnome thing but honestly, I thought he was an idiot character to begin with.  Just another “let’s manipulate the stupid races” bit again.

Looking back, not a lot happened in this book.  Wulfgar returned Colson to her birth mother after burying his idiot wife who stole the sword Khazid’hea from Cattibrie.  He then returned to the frozen wasteland that was his home at one time.

Did I mention that a drow and surface elf got married and had kids.  I think a little part of me died after reading the end of this book.

Will say this, however, about RA Salvatore.  While it gets extremely old that Drizzt never loses any of his magical spiffy weapons or gets raked across the coals like the other main characters… okay, okay.. .there was that one book wher the elf chick he saved as a child came back to kill his ass but did you really go OMG!  They killed Drizzt, you bastards!  Nope, predicable much like the time Artemis ‘killed’.  Maybe Drizzt is the Forgotten Realms equivalent of the Black Knight in Monty Python but I digress.  The fact remains Salvatore is a good writer.  As much as I whine bitch and moan about the Drizzt series, I’ll read the next one on that fact alone.  He keeps the story driving and leaves unnecessary BS out of the book because I’m not really interested on which way Drizzt puts his TP on the roll.  If it doesn’t drive the plot, don’t waste my time.

[Via http://kastil.wordpress.com]

Productivity blogger list results in unproductive practice

If you’ve heard me speak about technology you know I’m a huge fan of Mark Briggs. In fact, I could literally touch my current Briggs reading, Journalism Next, from where I’m sitting.

So, imagine my surprise when I went in search of his advice on the best cloud server and found this amazing list of productivity blogs.

My fandom of all things Briggs was compounded when I saw Leo Babauta’s name first on the list. Anyone who ever has spoken with me about time management knows I also am a huge fan of The Power of Less.

Needless to say, Briggs’s list had credibility with me. So much, in fact, that I spent a good part of my evening following each of the authors on Twitter and adding their RSS feeds to my Google Reader.

Productive? I think not.

[Via http://thekrg.wordpress.com]

the rate at which I am reading has been slowed...

when I was a kid, I would get a book on Friday and finish it within a week. If my friends were all busy or out of town, I could finish it in one weekend. Now that I am a mom of three little ones (6 1/2, 5, 3) I have had to become creative and crafty with where I get my reading in. I am always with a book in the car – just in case Ill get 5 minutes before work or before pickup at school – if the kids fall asleep as we are diving. I have often flirted with the idea of taking my two youngest to the childcare at the YMCA and instead of working out…..reading with a big cuppa something (gasp). I have friends who haven’t read a book since their child was born, these are also the friends who rarely take baths…two luxiories I have held tight in my grasp of my “Im not willing to let go of” repertoire.  I am usually able to read a book in a good amount of time – even given my schedule, so the fast that I am moving so slooowwwlly through this new book has me quite baffled!

‘ that Krishna Das’s book is a hard read. In fact quite the opposite. The First 41 pages flew right by. I loved hearing his voice through his writing and hearing the stories of Maharaj-ji, and Krishna Das’s path to self discovery. When I first started reading it was like a new relationship, everything is exciting and light and I could feel the depth of this person. I flipped page after page as he looked to his guru with love and devotion and admiration, reading about a new friends life journey. As I continued to quickly read this wonderful book I all at once was zapped back into my present moment with one paragraph:

“we see ourselves as separate and different from other people. On the level of thoughts, physicality,and emotions, we certainly seem to be. This is the “optical delusion”, and yet it is what we experience. My stuff revolves around a different planet than yours. You have your planet, I have mine. But on the deepest level, our planets are actually each a reflection of the same thing- the self, the One – like the moon reflected in different pools: one moon, same light, many reflections.  When the pool of water is calm and there is no debris floating on the surface, all of the reflections are identical. To the extent that we experience that, the way we live our lives changes. “

My reading pace slowed. I reread that paragraph a couple times. All of my stuff is rotating around my own planet – and depending on my mood I have been known to throw a few branches into my pool of water, I have often used the visualization with my children, of a pond of water with a treasure at the bottom. When the water is calm you are easily able to see the treasure but when the mood of the water is choppy it is very difficult to see clearly to the bottom.

I kept reading… and began bookmarking each page as I went forward. Each page has the depth of something I deeply desire to know and accept as my reality. Maybe that is why my pace has slowed. I am enjoying it though, and enjoying that I am in no rush to finish, other than my complete excitement to get to the next page.:)

Sharing his heart through music and chanting is the basis of Krishna Das’ own spiritual work—his way of serving the Divine within himself and others. “Chanting is a way of getting in touch with yourself. It’s an opening of the heart and letting go of the mind and thoughts. It deepens the channel of grace, and it’s a way of being present in the moment,” he says. Since 1994, the sound of his voice singing traditional Indian chants with a Western flavor has brought the spiritual experience of chanting to audiences all over the world. You can preorder Krishna’s book Chants of a Lifetime online at either HayHouse.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Amazon.com, or wherever books are sold. His book includes a free CD for personal chanting practice. More information on Krishna Das can be found at www.krishnadas.com.

[Via http://christinechristensen.wordpress.com]

Book review: 'The Sweetheart Of Prosper County' by Jill S. Alexander

Fifteen-year-old Austin Gray is sick to death of standing on the curb while the whole parade passes her by . . . quite literally. Tired of the constant teasing at the hands of a local malevolent and wishing she could just branch out and find a place in her small Texas town, Austin hatches a plan to become a “sweetheart” — a position of honor in Big Wells’ No-Jesus Christmas Parade.

So she plots. And she works. And she comes to possess a sleek black rooster she names Charles Dickens — and she works with him every day, hoping to train him so well that he wins her an award at the county fair. Much to her single mother’s chagrin, Austin joins the Future Farmers of America in school and finds herself with a new group of friends — including Sundi Knutt, the reigning parade sweetheart. And with the help of her new buddies and a little magic from Charles Dickens, Austin just might transform her life after all.

Jill S. Alexander’s The Sweetheart Of Prosper County is a glimpse of life for one teenage girl struggling with the grief she feels over losing her father years before and her desire to become something more than what she is: a quiet, almost-friendless loner who spends her time working at her mother’s hardware shop or hanging out with Maribel, her best friend. Her rooster, a gift from a local Creole man named Mr. Bourdreaux, adds a new dimension to her otherwise sheltered existence — and working toward entering Charles Dickens in the county fair gives her a goal.

While I liked Austin and wanted her journey toward happiness and self-esteem to go well, I can’t say that I particularly connected with her — or any of Alexander’s characters. Austin’s rationale for joining the FFA, raising her rooster and striving toward becoming sweetheart is all about finding acceptance, but I didn’t feel like she really wanted to change . . . that she was actively striving to become a stronger person. Somehow, the plot felt thin — and it didn’t take long for me to become frustrated with Austin, who consistently did what her grieving mother asked her not to do — and I felt sad for her mother Jeannie, too. But not sad enough that I cared for them beyond merely reading about their lives in a book.

The novel is fast-paced and a very quick read; I finished it in just a few hours, and I’m happy to have read it. Fans of Southern fiction and small-town settings will find Big Wells, Texas charming and quaint, and the setting helped keep my interest. Those love coming-of-age stories with a touch of romance will find something to enjoy here, too.

I should note that my views on the story have been shaped by reading so many other excellent coming-of-age young adult novels recently, and it’s too bad for The Sweetheart Of Prosper County that I read Robin Brande’s Fat Cat right after it — and just before writing this review. Because if you’re looking for a transformative, powerful and unbelievably entertaining read, Fat Cat takes the cake. This Sweetheart can only stand in the shadows.

3 out of 5!

ISBN: 0312548567 ♥ Purchase from Amazon ♥ Author Website
Personal copy obtained through BookMooch

[Via http://writemeg.com]

The Monstrumologist, by Rick Yancey

“These are the secrets I have kept. This is the trust I never betrayed. But he is dead now and has been for more than forty years, the one who gave me his trust, the one for whom I kept these secrets. The one who saved me…and the one who cursed me.”

So begins the journal of Will Henry, orphaned assistant to Dr. Pellinore Warthrop, a man with a most unusual specialty: monstrumology, the study of monsters. In his time with the doctor, Will has met many a mysterious late-night visitor, and seen things he never imagined were real. But when a grave robber comes calling in the middle of the night with a gruesome find, he brings with him their most deadly case yet. [summary from Goodreads]

The case starts out simple enough – the grave robber brings to Warthrop the corpse of a young girl inexplicably entwined with the dead body of a monstrous creature – but their search for what the creature is and how it got into the grave quickly becomes complicated. After a deadly trip to the local cemetery and some late-night dissections, Dr. Warthrop becomes convinced that the monster is an Anthropophagi, a hellish species his father had studied, and that the cemetery is their breeding ground. Their search to uncover more about creatures leads them from the graveyard to the mad house and into the past of both Will Henry and Dr. Warthrop.

The setting – New England in the late 19th century – is gloomy and bleak, perfect for such a dark story, and the haunted, driven characters fit the world perfectly. The Anthropophagi, far from being supernatural creatures, are wholly of the real world and are much scarier because of it – think about your local community being overrun by violent, man-eating animals at the top of the food chain and you’ll get the idea.

While the story has plenty of nail-biting suspense, hair-raising scares, and festivals of gore, it’s also a story about relationships, particularly of sons and their fathers: the son’s eternal striving to either live up to his father’s deeds, surpass them, or atone for them. Will Henry and Dr. Warthrop’s relationship is dysfunctional at best, shades of father/son and mentor/apprentice but not quite living up to either, but at the same time they need each other, if only because no one else needs them.

This is not a silly kid’s book about monsters that nobody would find scary. It’s not a B-movie. It’s not for the easily frightened or squeamish. What it is, is one of the best horror novels I’ve ever read (and I’m including adult books here, too), genuinely scary, fascinatingly gross, and psychologically complex.

If you like horror novels, this is the one to read.

[Via http://eplcoolcafe.wordpress.com]

Hate List

The Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Everyone has those books they come across and, almost to their own surprise, do not want to put them down…for whatever reason.  While reading Jennifer Brown’s The Hate List, I found myself not paying attention when my husband was speaking to me, ignoring one of my most favorite TV shows, and avoiding sleep at all costs to keep reading…”just one more chapter!”

Valerie Leftman isn’t popular.  In fact, Valerie spends much of her time at school and on the way to school being picked on, called mean names, degraded.  Valerie fights to take back some dignity and control through her spiral-bound notebook, her Hate List.  For Valerie the Hate List is a cathartic exercise – putting in print everything and everyone she hates, from her Algebra homework and her parents’ arguments, to the superstar jock who picks on her and her boyfriend.  But for Valerie’s boyfriend, Nick, the Hate List becomes a seriously hateful enterprise; one day in May, Nick opens fire in their high school, killing several, injuring many (including Valerie), and then turning the gun on himself.  Now Valerie is left to pick up the pieces of her life, to deal with the love she had for a guy who could perpetrate such acts of violence and to negotiate living in a town where many assume she is an equally guilty party.

The Hate List proves an incredibly unique and powerful novel, allowing readers to witness the events leading up to the school shooting, the shooting itself and the aftermath.  The narrative is sophisticated, providing glimpses between the “present” and “past”-pre-shooting, the ”past”-post-shooting and “present,” and interspersed with newspaper clippings about the shooting and its victims.  This title is the author’s debut and I was very surprised not to see it as one of the William C. Morris honor books!  Jennifer Brown is definitely an author to watch!

[Via http://merreads.wordpress.com]

Maxwell's Silver Sermon

Charlie looked at the bewildered victims of the crash on the beach and spoke for all when he said, “Guys, where are we?”

If you want to know how we got here (telegraph–television–blogs–Facebook–Twitter) I would highly recommend Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. The fact that a majority of blog readers will know the setting, time of day, and characters of the theatrical reference in the opening quote of this post tells us that Postman was on to something. The average consumer receives philosophical, theological, and cultural challenges through entertainment not through sustained conversation, study, or thinking. In fact what is usually passed off as “conversation” in today’s culture, and more to the point–today’s church,  is anything but. If nothing else, read Postman’s eighth chapter “Shuffle Off to Bethlehem” which surveys the televangelist scene of 1985. The players have changed but the issues are all still there. Here are a few choice quotes:

• “The first is that on television, religion, like everything else, is presented, quite simply and without apology, as an entertainment.”
• “If the delivery is not the same, then the message, quite likely, is not the same. And if the context in which the message is experienced is altogether different from what it was in Jesus’ time, we may assume that its social and psychological meaning is different, as well.”
• “Though their messages are trivial, the shows have high ratings, or rather, because their messages are trivial, the shows have high ratings.”
• “I believe I am not mistaken in saying that Christianity is a demanding and serious religion. When it is delivered as easy and amusing, it is another kind of religion altogether.”
• “I think it both and fair and obvious to say that on television, God is a vague and subordinate character. Though His name is invoked repeatedly, the concreteness and persistence of the image of the preacher carries the clear message that it is he, not He, who must be worshipped.”

[Via http://expositorythoughts.wordpress.com]

Reading Lolita in Tehran

I just remembered a book that’s influenced the way I think about literature and women’s rights as much, if not more, than Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own — Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi.

From amazon:

An inspired blend of memoir and literary criticism, Reading Lolita in Tehran is a moving testament to the power of art and its ability to change and improve people’s lives. In 1995, after resigning from her job as a professor at a university in Tehran due to repressive policies, Azar Nafisi invited seven of her best female students to attend a weekly study of great Western literature in her home. Since the books they read were officially banned by the government, the women were forced to meet in secret, often sharing photocopied pages of the illegal novels. For two years they met to talk, share, and “shed their mandatory veils and robes and burst into color.” Though most of the women were shy and intimidated at first, they soon became emboldened by the forum and used the meetings as a springboard for debating the social, cultural, and political realities of living under strict Islamic rule. They discussed their harassment at the hands of “morality guards,” the daily indignities of living under the Ayatollah Khomeini’s regime, the effects of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, love, marriage, and life in general, giving readers a rare inside look at revolutionary Iran. The books were always the primary focus, however, and they became “essential to our lives: they were not a luxury but a necessity,” she writes.

Threaded into the memoir are trenchant discussions of the work of Vladimir Nabokov, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jane Austen, and other authors who provided the women with examples of those who successfully asserted their autonomy despite great odds. The great works encouraged them to strike out against authoritarianism and repression in their own ways, both large and small: “There, in that living room, we rediscovered that we were also living, breathing human beings; and no matter how repressive the state became, no matter how intimidated and frightened we were, like Lolita we tried to escape and to create our own little pockets of freedom,” she writes. In short, the art helped them to survive. –Shawn Carkonen

I remember the first time I picked up this book. I read the entire thing one spring afternoon, while procrastinating on my homework. It made me realize how much I was taking for granted. Nafisi, like Woolf, demonstrates the importance and almost revolutionary quality of being able to read freely, of being able to express oneself freely.

She’s one of the reasons I’ve read (and people always make fun of me when I admit this) pretty much every word of my homework assignments since I’ve been at Reed. Does that make me a nerd? Probably a little bit. At the same time, though, I really cannot imagine having limits on what I am allowed to say, limits on what I am allowed to read.

One of the most beautiful parts of her story, I think, is how literature became, as Nabokov says, ” a violin in the void.” The power of books to free, to help us grow, is amazing to me. It could very well be that I’m just a silly dramatic bibliophile, but I really do feel like language is one of our saving graces, as human beings. Imagination — just as in Nabokov’s Invitation to a Beheading – is what keeps our souls from being imprisoned. I’m reminded of stories of how soldiers survived years in prison camps — men who held on to sanity by composing or reciting poetry in their heads, by designing their future houses, by teaching each other through taps how to do complicated things like fix TVs or cars. It is really, as Cincinnatus C. discovers, one of the only ways we can truly liberate ourselves.

Some things worth reading:

Azar Nafisi on Nabokov

Interview on Reading Lolita In Tehran

Nafisi on her new autobiography, Things I’ve Been Silent About:
-Lucy

[Via http://shakespearessister.net]

Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality by Donald Miller

Miller creates a collage of life experiences that can cause the reader to examine the foundation to their own faith. The chapters are an array of topics and each chapter is broken up by thought breaks. It is an easy read, but lacks a smooth flow. Novel readers may get bored or annoyed, but those who ponder a lot or who are ADD will thrive with there thought breaks.

If you put yourself into the book you will be changed. My favorite chapters: Confession, Love, Community and Marriage.

[Via http://markman700.wordpress.com]

Book Review: White Man's Burden

How our "help" has fallen far short...

First up, for my (hopefully) monthly book reviews is William Easterly’s controversial, yet imminently logical The White Man’s Burden : Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good.

As a former head-honcho for places like the IMF–with an insider’s view on what has gone wrong with aid for so many decades–Easterly offers a candid, often disturbing view into the machinations of states, NGOs, and global conglomerates.

I truly believe this book should be read by all in International Development, from CEOs of non-profits to administrative assistants at the IMF and UN.

[Via http://education4everyone.wordpress.com]

The Sister Exchange by Kevin McNamee

Bill Cosby used to have a comedy skit about parenting back in the 70’s. One of the points he used to make is that if you have only one child you’re not really a parent. I didn’t quite understand how he could say such a thing, but that was before I had two young girls close in age who fight constantly. If I remember the skit correctly, Cosby said you weren’t a real parent if you only had one child because you didn’t have to listen to things like, “She’s touching me!”  

In this charming and delightful book, Kevin McNamee tackles the issue of sibling rivalry in a fun and unique way. When Brianna, the oldest of two sisters, complains about her younger sister, Julianne, she tells her mother that she wants a new sister. Julianne is always bugging her, and following her around, wanting to do what she does, and it’s plain old annoying.

So, Mom calls up the Sister Exchange and asks to trade in Julianne. That’s when Brianna learns something surprising about Julianne and herself.

The Sister Exchange is one of those stories that will make you feel good by the time you reach the end. As your child follows along Brianna’s journey to trade in her sister, they learn how special siblings can truly be; that despite those little things about them that might bug you, you’re lucky to have them around.

In a fun and engaging way, McNamee has taken a serious issue and turned it into a story that will delight your children.

The illustrations by Kit Grady are the perfect compliment to this story. I was already a fan of her work, but she’s outdone herself in her creation of these two sisters and the many humorous illustrations of the potential sister replacements; though I have to say that Hissy the cat is my favorite.

A great story with a superb ending, The Sister Exchange by Kevin McNamee is definitely a book you’ll want to share with your little girls.

Rating: 

Publisher: Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc

ISBN-10: 1616330155

ISBN-13: 978-1616330156

SRP:  $10.95

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[Via http://childrensandteensbookconnection.wordpress.com]

the five factor diet

so i went ahead and checked out 5 factor diet from the library because it’s currently all the rage. it’s based all around, you guessed it, the number 5, promising that it will provide you with 5 meals and recipes per day that each have 5 ingredients or less and take less than 5 minutes to prepare. in addition, you workout 5 days a week doing 5 different exercises for a total of 25 minutes.

while i genuinely thought i might find some inspiration here for my own lifestyle plan, i am sad to give this book two thumbs down.

the first few chapters are dedicated to trashing all other popular diets, and while many comments where well-researched and fairly grounded, i hate hypocrites and harley’s 5 factor farce isn’t setting the bar any higher than south beach or atkins.

harley then goes on to share about how smart and qualified he is to be writing this book. he includes a sob story about how he too was once fat. yawn. then you finally start getting into the good stuff, where he talks about the five components of each meal. he does mention the glycemic index, which i DO believe is very important when trying to lose weight:

What is the Glycemic Index?

Not all carbohydrate foods are created equal, in fact they behave quite differently in our bodies. The glycemic index or GI describes this difference by ranking carbohydrates according to their effect on our blood glucose levels. Choosing low GI carbs – the ones that produce only small fluctuations in our blood glucose and insulin levels – is the secret to long-term health reducing your risk of heart disease and diabetes and is the key to sustainable weight loss.

low gi foods will make you feel full and stay full for longer. they take longer to digest and do not cause huge spikes in blood sugar levels like high gi foods.

this is seriously the only concept that harley touched upon that was worth reading about.  the rest of the book is dedicated to him supporting slim fast drinks (a.k.a. poison), and to popular celebrities swearing that this diet gave them the bodies they have.

my favorite recipe- this is for real, page 135:

“kashi go lean with nonfat milk”

ingredients: 2 cups cereal, 2 cups milk

to serve: place 1 cup cereal in each bowl and add the milk.

makes 2 servings.

read sarah’s review here. it’s hilarious.

[Via http://libbydelay.wordpress.com]

Interview with Civil War Historical Fiction Author Dot Ryan

Dot Ryan, born and raised in Bee County in South Texas, makes her home in “the sparkling city by the sea,” Corpus Christi, Texas, with husband, Sam. Corrigans’ Pool is Dot’s first novel. She is busy writing her second and third works of fiction. You can visit her website at www.dotryanbooks.com.

Q: Thank you for this interview, Dot. Can you tell us what your latest book, Corrigans’ Pool, is all about?

Thank you for inviting me!  Corrigans’ Pool is a Civil War era novel that takes place in and around Savannah, Georgia between 1861 and 1864. If you don’t mind, I’ve taken parts of the following description from the recent ForeWord Clarion Review of Corrigans’ Pool, which gave the book five stars out five:

The eldest of two daughters, Ella Corrigan rises to the challenge when a family tragedy results in an incapacitated mother and a father consumed by guilt. Despite the pressures of essentially running the family plantation on her own, she bears the burden of responsibility stoically, with kindness, efficiency, and little resentment for her lot in life.

Somewhat resigned to the possibility of never marrying, Ella is stunned by her reaction when she meets the dashing, if seemingly ill-suited, Gentry Garland. She repeatedly resists the attraction at first, resulting in moments both touching and amusing, until she finally accepts the love between them.  From there, it doesn’t take long for Ella to begin envisioning a different, more enriching future—at least until the Civil War lands on their doorstep and Gentry strangely disappears without a word.

Devastated, Ella makes the fateful decision to marry neighboring plantation owner Victor Faircloth. Victor’s increasingly contemptuous violence toward those who serve his household sickens Ella, and a gripping mystery begins to unfold involving his rapidly disappearing slaves and the beautiful pool, called Corrigans’ Pool, on Ella’s family property. As the Civil War rages on, Ella finds herself fighting a war of her own to save her home, her loved ones, and the innocent victims of her husband’s brutality.

Villains and heroes are exposed in their true light, loves are lost and found, and the strength of human spirit ultimately prevails.

Q: Is this your first novel?  If not, how has writing this novel different from writing your first?

Yes, Corrigans’ Pool is my first.  I am presently working on the sequel to Corrigans’ Pool and two additional historical novels.

Corrigans' Pool by Dot Ryan (click on cover to purchase at Amazon)

Q: How difficult was it writing your book?  Did you ever experience writer’s block and, if so, what did you do?

Writing Corrigans’ Pool was easy, it was learning to write right that was hard!  As I said in one of my blogs: The desire to write is all well and good but first one must learn to write!  I married right out of high school and continued my studies “catch as catch can,” afterward. Driven by my insatiable desire to write, I began a campaign of self-study, hours in libraries doing research, reading and re-reading dozens of books on writing, subscribing to every writer’s magazine I came across in, enrolling in every writer’s course available within reasonable driving distance from my rural home and, of course, reading as many novels as I could. I finished Corrigans’ Pool in 1982 … and lost every page of it in a fire a few months later, along with most of my research notes.

To make a long story short, I overcame my devastation and anger a few years later and began Corrigans’ Pool all over again.

Yes, I experienced writer’s block from time to time. To get past it, I leaned back in my comfortable writing chair and read a few pervious chapters. If that didn’t work, I went through dozens of scrap-paper notes containing dialogue and proposed scenes, all of which I had jotted down over a long period of time and stuffed into a large manila envelope.  Usually, one method or the other worked.

Q: How have your fans embraced your latest novel?  Do you have any funny or unusual experiences to share?

There is nothing like the thrill when readers e-mail or call to say they bought your book and absolutely could not put down!  This has happened many times. One woman told me that she was reading Corrigans’ Pool for the second time and would probably read it again in the future. Getting a bit worried, I asked her if there was something in the book that she did no understand and she replied, “Heck no! I just love it that much! You will write a sequel to it, won’t you? When will it be out?”

Also, I have been told that books I donated to an area library are constantly checked out; that is a very good sign.

There are also great reviews by buyers of the book on the Barnes & Noble site. In addition, a book club in Moon Township, Pa read and discussed Corrigans’ Pool and gave it five stars. They are mailing their books to me so that I can autograph them. I am flattered and grateful.

All reviews, so far, have been good.  I believe when other potential readers learn that Corrigans’ Pool is out there and being enjoyed, they will not regret buying it. 

Q: What is your daily writing routine?

I write at least five days a week, sometimes into the weekend. There are days when I write from sunup to sundown or longer if the words are flowing.  I get teased by my grown children when they drop by and find me in my pajamas in the middle of the afternoon. I tell them that my pj’s are my writing costume of choice and they might as well accept it.  Besides, I’m all for comfort when exercising the brain.

Q: When you put the pen or mouse down, what do you do to relax?

I read or strum my old guitar. At one time early in my life, my hobby was writing songs.  I have a box of my musical creations in the attic. A fantastic Texas singer, Joel Nava, was kind enough to put a few of them on CD’s for me. Just for fun, I will soon put these songs on my website under my blog, Memoirs of a Texas Dance Hall Queen: If you want a few laughs, go to dotryanbooks.com and read the Texas Dance Hall Queen blog.

Q: What book changed your life?

I’ve read books that affected nearly all of my senses, thereby giving me great pleasure as I read them, followed by enjoyable contemplation afterward. Other books have shown me darker images of life and human nature that perhaps I felt uncomfortable reading about but satisfied a need to be informed. For certain, these books changed my life in ways that improved me as a writer, but it is difficult to spotlight any one of them as the life changing book.

Q: If someone were to write a book on your life, what would the title be?

Tenacity Floats

Q: Finish this sentence: “The one thing that I wish people would understand about me is…”

…that next to my husband and children, writing is my life … so be assured that other novels are on the way!

Thank you for this interview Dot.  I wish you much success on your latest release, Corrigans’ Pool!

Thank you! I enjoyed answering your questions.

[Via http://asthepagesturn.wordpress.com]

City of Bones: A Chick Lit Wednesday Review

Fifteen-year-old Clary Fray is almost content with her boring real life in Brooklyn. Trips to the Pandemonium Club for dancing and people watching with her best friend Simon add enough excitement, even if Clary is too shy to talk to anyone.

That changes when Clary witnesses three teenagers with mysterious tattoos murder another boy in the club. Clary is ready to report the murder until she watches the body disappear into thin air. The murderers being invisible to everyone but Clary also complicates matters.

But nothing is as it seems when the murderers explain themselves to her. Not murderers at all, the teens are part of the hidden world of Shadowhunters–warriors who fight to rid the world of demons.

Clary is drawn deeper into the Shadowhunter world when her mother disappears and demons start to attack. Suddenly Clary’s boring real life is anything but in City of Bones (2005) by Cassandra Clare.

The book itself is also anything but ordinary. Reviews have cited City of Bones as an unoriginal pastiche of other fantasies–a claim that, after finishing the novel, seems unfounded.

Clare blends elements of biblical myth, urban fantasy and suspense to create a truly unique story. The writing is snappy with wit and verve that might explain the comparisons between the book and the Buffy TV series.

As Clary delves deeper into the world of the Shadowhunters and the demons they hunt, Clare creates a richly developed world filled with vivid characters that readers will look forward to seeing again.

City of Bones is the first of Clare’s Mortal Instruments books. Clary’s adventure continues in City of Ashes. The first three of the series are already published with a fourth due out in 2011. Clare is also working on a prequel trilogy called The Infernal Devices. The first of the prequels, The Clockwork Angel will be published in 2010.

Possible Pairings: The Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan, Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick, Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Paradise Lost by John Milton, The Descent by William Carlos Williams

[Via http://missprint.wordpress.com]

Book Review: Dug Down Deep by Josh Harris

Dug Down Deep: Unearthing What I Believe and Why It Matters by Joshua Harris

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Josh Harris made a name for himself quite a few years ago when he wrote his book “I Kissed Dating Goodbye”. “Dug Down Deep” gives us his story both before and after he wrote that book. It is both an interesting biography as well as a new manner of presenting basic theology. It is a very good approach. I was pleased to read it.Harris describes his carelessness in his life, his conversion, his pride, his humiliation, and the blessings that Christ used to bring him to where he is now. Harris is very open and transparent about his own mistakes. He is also truthful about what it took his mentors, friends, and family doing in his life to help him grow in the Lord. These are very useful things to know. Most of us will go through similar circumstances. It is a good thing to know that we are not alone.Harris grew up in a good, conservative environment only to rebel against much of it. He speaks of some of the shallowness he encountered in churches as well as some of the legalism. His story is the story of a man who had to find that the Scriptures are permeated with Christ above all else.As Josh Harris writes his story he brings in various theological concepts so that the reader is getting a doctrinal education while reading Josh’s story. I greatly appreciate his focus on doctrine as well as how he wrote the book. From the Bible to sanctification, to the uniqueness of Christ and more, Harris takes us on a theological and biographical journey that the reader will not soon forget.

Buy this book on Amazon or from the publisher.

This was book was provided for review by WaterBrook Multnomah

View all my reviews >>

[Via http://pastoralmusings.com]

A High View of Scripture?: The Authority of the Bible and the Formation of the New Testament Canon

A High View of Scripture?: The Authority of the Bible and the Formation of the New Testament Canon

Author: Craig D. Allert

Paperback: 208 pages

Publisher: Baker Academic (June 1, 2007)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0801027780

ISBN-13: 978-0801027789
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With thanks to Caitlin Mackenzie at Baker Academic for this review copy!

Craig D. Allert is associate professor and chair of religious studies at Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia.  A High View of Scripture? (hereafter HVS?) is the third volume in the Evangelical Ressourcement series which is a series that sees the value in patristic thought and seeks to integrate it into twenty-first century ministry.  In HVS? Allert provides the non-specialist with a competent introduction to the formation of the NT canon as well as some food for thought concerning what may or may not be their understanding of the role that Scripture played in the early church.

In the first chapter Allert focuses on (mainly North American) evangelicalism and its view of the Bible through traditional lenses.  Evangelical thought is heavily indebted to its battle against nineteenth century theological liberalism, and as such, tends to focus on the final form of the Bible and not on its formation.  Allert’s book is one that seeks to help the evangelical reader appreciate the process that brought them their Bible, a process that should be taken into account if one genuinely wants to claim a ‘high’ view of Scripture.

The second chapter addresses the basics of the formation of the NT canon laying out three principle theories: (1) The NT was a spontaneous occurrence, (2) The NT was formed in the second century, and (3) The NT was formed in the fourth century.  Theory 1 is extremely problematic and doesn’t accord with what we know from the patristic testimony.  Theories 2 and 3 are taken up later in chapters 4 & 5 respectively.  Allert also does well to define some key terms and lay out the criteria of canonicity (i.e., apostolicity, orthodoxy, and catholicity).

In the third chapter Allert sets the formation of the NT into its proper context, that is, within the community of faith.  Too often, the church’s role in producing, collecting, and defining what would come to be known as the Bible, is overlooked in evangelical bibliology.  To summarize Allert’s main point in this chapter, with a caricature of my own (not one that Allert uses); many evangelicals treat the Bible as if it fell from heaven like premium calfskin manna.  But when one recognizes that the Bible is the church’s book then they’ll be dispelled of such notions and realize the avenue that God took in providing us with his special revelation.

In the fourth chapter Allert shows convincingly that there was no closed NT canon in the second century and that such an understanding of a canon of Scripture wouldn’t surface until the fourth century, and even then we don’t have what evangelicals generally think of as the closed NT canon.  The argument that certain early writers referred to documents that later became part of the NT canon as ‘Scripture’ does nothing for the argument that they were considered canonical at that time.  Nor will it do to argue based on the believed inspiration of a writing since many writings were considered inspired (and others were also called Scripture) that never made it into the NT canon.  In short, Allert is urging against anachronism.

The fifth chapter examines the fourth century lists of Biblical books in Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History and Athanasius’ 39th Festal Letter.  In Eusebius we find a list divided by accepted writings, disputed writings, and rejected writings.  Certain books that would later be accepted were still disputed in the fourth century (e.g., 2Peter or Jude) and appeared alongside writings that would never make it into the canon, so this shows that the NT canon was still quite fluid, but we do see an authoritative list of books like none that appeared before it.  Athanasius’ Festal Letter on the other hand lists all 27 books that appear in our NT and labels them as canonical.  The same list pops up in Carthage just thirty years later, but neither list settled the issue once and for all as can be seen by the disputed status of Hebrews and Revelation on other lists of fourth century writers.

The final chapter turns to the issues of inspiration and inerrancy.  Allert rightly notes that at best we can only affirm that Scripture is inspired but past that we don’t know much at all.  Even here we have to be careful not to assume that the standard proof-texts for inspiration have ‘the Bible’ in view or any kind of closes canon because of course such things did not exist yet.  Inerrancy becomes relative because in the mind of many evangelicals it’s the logical conclusion of inspiration, that is, if the Bible is the product of God, and God cannot err, then the Bible cannot err.  But this calls into question exactly what we mean by terms like truth and error and has to account for matters of interpretative methodology, and when it’s all said and done, if we can’t say much about inspiration then we can’t say much about inerrancy.  As noted earlier, just because a document was thought to be inspired or was considered Scripture didn’t make it canonical nor would many evangelicals think these writings inerrant.

Craig Allert has given us in HVS? a book that’s both attentive and sensitive to history.  He eschews anachronism at every turn and offers a number of correctives for modern evangelicals who read their current beliefs into the church fathers, and for this, he is to be commended.  One of the most profound insights of this book is that early Christians didn’t place the authority of books that would later be canonized in their alleged canonical status or even their inspiration, but rather in their preservation of the teachings of Jesus and the apostolic testimony.  This is a major point that many modern evangelicals would do well to remember.  This work could benefit from a bit more qualification when talking about evangelicals.  For example, Allert regularly refers to evangelicals generally, when it would be better to say ‘many’ or ’some,’ or qualify the statements with something like, ‘the evangelical authors I’ve read…’ or ‘the evangelicals I’ve spoken to…’

The final chapter also seems a bit disjointed.  The latter half of it recounts the expulsion of Robert Gundry from the Evangelical Theological Society in 1983 over his commentary on Matthew.  The majority of the ETS felt that he was denying inerrancy based upon their preconceptions about what inerrancy was when in reality Gundry was faithful to the doctrine as defined by the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy in that he interpreted the text not based on what he thought it should mean, but rather based on what Matthew intended it to mean by employing midrash.  While the recounting of these events was fascinating in its own right it lacked cohesion with the first half of the chapter on inspiration and didn’t fit the overall flow of the book.  These criticisms aside, HVS? is a challenging book that will force readers to think about their views on tradition and Scripture, and hopefully cause them to appreciate the former as much as they might appreciate the latter.

B”H

[Via http://rdtwot.wordpress.com]

Become a Tribal Leader !

Jamaican politics is said to be  “a struggle for scarce benefits carried on between hostile tribes perpetually at war”. Tribes are not always political though.

Many religions act like tribes also. Those they oppose are often quick to call them cults. Tribes can also be a powerful economic and social force as well.

“Since the dawn of civilization people have formed tribes, and research demonstrates that humans are genetically programmed to form into groups. Within every company there are tribes, often several, consisting of 20 to 150 people who know each other and work together. But while everyone tribes, the culture of each tribe is different, as is its effectiveness. Improving a tribe’s culture—and its chances for greater success—requires a tribal leader who not only understands the tribe but can leverage its collective assets to build a greater team.”

That quote is taken from a website promoting a book called “Tribal Leadership”.

Some believe buying such a book is a waste of time since they feel that a Tribal Leader cannot be trained or created but is a natural, a charismatic personality,someone great that spontaneously arises when the right conditions present themselves.

Obama used a “grass-roots” strategy, similar to the idea of building ever-enlarging tribes, to reach the White House. His strategy was flawless but his Personal Charisma is also undeniable.

On a more intimate level Mystery, a world famous Pick-Up Artist (PUA), a master of seduction, actually encourages his students to become “Tribal Leaders” because he says all women are biologically hardwired to respond most strongly to these “Alpha Male” types.

Mystery believes that the Charisma comes from having the leadership position. This is contrary to the commonly held view that Leadership is attaned by the one who exudes charisma.

Mystery says that, in the “Game of Seduction” at least, once you display qualities of Leadership, once you display “Social Proof”, you automatically become attractive.

This might also help explain people, such as Hitler, who possessed incredible public speaking Charisma yet were awkward in a personal setting. With a carefully crafted stage presence, with many symbols of  Power, they can create a type of Charisma.

Obama said, at the largest gathering of Native American Tribal Leaders, last year, “Treaties were violated,Promises were broken. You were told your lands, your religion, your cultures, your languages were not yours to keep.”

Given the past, Obama said he wouldn’t have been surprised if the leaders hadn’t come, saying it showed “an extraordinary leap of faith.”  Sitting at a table on stage in the Interior auditorium last year, Obama signed a memorandum directing all federal agencies to develop within 90 days a plan to improve tribal consultation. “These are challenges we can only face by working together,” he said.

Obama is clearly not just Charismatic but also an extraordinary leader in his strategic ability to create consensus, be authentic, visionary and inclusive.

Daniel Quinn believes the future will belong to tribes.

You may not have Obama’s leadership abilities but you can still shape the future by deciding which tribes you belong to.

According to marketing guru Seth Godin, modern technology has made it even easier for us to form into tribes and these tribes can now easily become Global, because of the Internet.

Seth Godin outlines the following principles for aspiring Tribal Leaders;

Firstly, Create a change, a meaningful Tribe will in some way challenge the status quo. It will seek to improve conditions.

Secondly, Tribes develop their unique culture: “A secret language, a 7-second handshake, a way of knowing whether you are in or you are out.”

Thirdly, tribes have curiosity: “about the people in the tribe, and about outsiders.”

Fourthly, the Tribe fosters Connection to each other. They allow people to achieve what they want more than anything….to be missed ! If you aren’t there other tribe members should notice and miss you.

Seth Godin agrees with Mystery in the end because he says “All tribal leaders have charisma. BUT, you do not need charisma to be a tribal leader. Leading a tribe gives you charisma. If you look and study the leaders throughout history, you will see where the charisma comes from. It comes from the leading.”

Finally Great tribes Commit: They commit to the cause, they commit to the tribe, they commit to the people.

Become a Tribal Leader !

[Via http://heavylogix.wordpress.com]

Irish Folktales (Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library) Edited by Henry Glassie

Irish Folktales is a book edited by Henry Glassie, who is a college Professor of Folklore at Indiana University.  The book has 122 tales divided into categories.  The categories themselves sometimes have sub-categories.

The categories are:
1. Faith with the sub-categories of saints, and the priest and his people.
2. Wit with the sub-categories of the wise and the foolish, wits and poets, tall tales and outwitting the devil.
3. Mystery with the sub-categories of death and tokens, ghosts, away, encounters with Fairies, Fairy traits and treasures, enchanted nature, illness and witchcraft and strange sounds and visions of war.
4. History with the sub-categories of ancient days, war, rapparees, and later days.
5. Fireside tales with the sub-categories of Fenian tales, maturity and wit and faith.

The book itself though starts with an introduction.  The introduction talks about how the editor got interested in the tales he is bringing to us in the book and he gives us a look into a little bit of how the study of folklore came about which was very interesting to read.  Through it he establishes the rules behind recording these tales and how to go about doing it.

The tales are very enjoyable and can be used as stories for the kids (as I found out from experience).  The fact that there are 122 tales, was interesting cause I found myself going through them very fast and in the end thought, huh, there is no way they were 122, they had to be much less.  I loved the book, and I loved the style of the writing as well as the divisions of the book.  A great addition anyone’s library.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

[Via http://celticscholar.wordpress.com]

Latest Writing Projects

I have a number of exciting writing projects I am developing now. They are all on topics I have a keen interest in. In no particular order, the subjects include smoking, an artist’s canvas, fathers, home, success, and a novel.

The smoking one I am working on first. I received a number of interview sources through ReporterConnection.com for that one and will be using the interviews in the book. As well, ReporterConnection.com was used for the fathers book and the success book.

The artist’s canvas book is a creative collaboration of a piece of artwork that goes along with a book I am writing. I have been picking up the paintbrushes and doing art again recently and it is a true joy. The home piece is something close to my heart and the novel is too.

Please look out for these stories to published this year. It is a joy to write them and I have been reading up on a lot of great material to make them even better than my previous work.

[Via http://kakonged.wordpress.com]

Reading: Starting in the middle

Right now I’m halfway through a very stupid book called Miss Julia Delivers the Goods. It is not my type of book at all, and the only reason I’m reading it is because I don’t want to hurt the feelings of the person who gave it to me. Why this person chose this particular book for me is absolutely mystifying, but whatever. I am reading the darn thing.

Now, this book is annoying for many reasons, and I thought about making a list of snarky bullet points, but decided against it mainly because it wouldn’t be fair. I mean, it’s not the author’s fault that I don’t care for lite fiction starring proper Southern ladies of a “certain age” whose lives revolve around church gossip and who think there’s no bigger crime than having a baby out of wedlock. There’s nothing inherently wrong with books that have blurbs like “Get ready for double the trouble and twice the fun in Ann B. Ross’s tenth Miss Julia adventure.”

– — –

However. This stupid book, it is actually making me think. Did you notice, from that blurb I quoted, that this book is the tenth in a series? And no, of course I haven’t read books one through nine. I never even heard of Miss Julia until she appeared under the Christmas tree.

I am not a big reader of genre fiction in general, and especially not genre fiction that comes in long series. One of my biggest gripes is the way so many writers handle the back story. Alas, they tell it to you over and over again, the same thing in each and every subsequent novel. Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series is a perfect example of this. Now the Plum novels are an exception to my general dislike of long series — they are riotously funny and I love ’em. But there’s no doubt that they’d be even better without the back story of Stephanie and Ranger, Stephanie and Morelli, how she became a bounty hunter in the first place, etc. etc. etc., being recited ad nauseum in each book.

Forget the back story, dear series authors. Just leave it out! Do your readers the honor of allowing us to figure it out for ourselves. We are not stupid. Please do not spoonfeed us.

– — –

That used to be my attitude, anyway. But now I’m kind of eating my words. Because I just realized something. When I read a series, I always start at the beginning. It’s just how I am. I am a methodical, linear, left-brain thinker. The idea of starting in the middle actually creeps me out. And now, with Miss Julia, I’m finding out that when you start in the middle, maybe you do need some back story. Not a lot, perhaps, but enough to make the motivation of the characters and the relationships between them, understandable.

See, there’s a weird situation in this novel. The main character, Miss Julia, apparently lives with and financially supports her dead husband’s mistress. And I have no idea why. That’s kind of a big elephant in the room, especially when the entire plot revolves around the aforesaid mistress’s pregnancy. There are also inexplicable undercurrents with the baby’s father. Again, I can tell there is history, but I don’t know what. I’m sure the author didn’t intend to create this particular type of suspense. It’s not fun suspense; it’s just puzzling and annoying. I’m sure if I’d started at the beginning of the series, I wouldn’t be in the dark right now.

– — –

I said I’m not a big reader of genre fiction that comes in a long series, but one huge exception to that, besides Stephanie Plum, is Patrick O’Brian’s glorious Aubrey-Maturin series. I have read all twenty of these Age of Sail novels again and again, and I never tire of them. One of the (many many) things I admire so much about these books is that the author gives no back story at all. And yet, these books are set in a time and place that really requires a lot of explanation: they are filled with quaint nautical jargon, history, geography, slang, botany, early nineteenth century “medicine” and much more that most of us modern readers have no clue about. But O’Brian doesn’t explain anything. He simply throws you in at the deep end, and as you come to the surface you gradually piece things together and figure out what’s going on. But somehow, you never feel puzzled the way I am puzzled about Miss Julia right now. That’s because O’Brian does help you along in subtle ways, using a variety of literary devices that never feel remotely expository or didactic.

For example, instead of outlining a complicated political situation directly to the reader, you find out about it indirectly, when Captain Aubrey gets his orders from the Admiralty. And in case you are wondering what the “Admiralty” is, that’s never explained directly, either. It’s just where Jack goes to get his orders. But its significance is abundantly clear. Furthermore, there are interpersonal relationships almost as weirdly unexpected as the one between Miss Julia and Hazel Marie. Oh, and there is a long stretch where O’Brian creates almost unbearable (but delicious!) suspense because you know who the traitor is, but the secret agent does not. And you know the traitor’s identity even if  you’re not reading the books in order. O’Brian has to get you up to speed somehow, or the whole point of this particular multi-volume plot arc would be lost. He does it, again, in lovely subtle ways. He doesn’t tell, but he shows. One character keeps a secret diary. Another writes letters home. They have conversations and inner monologues. And it’s all good.

So, as I continue to plow through Miss Julia, I find myself wishing the author would take some lessons from my beloved P O’B. I’m not asking for paragraphs of direct explanation as to why the dead husband’s mistress is a beloved member of her household. There are lots of ways she could make that clear. But she should pick one! I like suspense, real suspense, but I shouldn’t be left in the dark about these basic and important pieces of the story. Ann B. Ross, go read some Patrick O’Brian.

– — –

Ok, fine, but there is a counter-argument. Ann B. Ross could very well come back and say that the onus is on the reader to read the books in order. I mean, I wrote this whole long post based on the assumption that authors should accommodate readers who jump in mid-series. Is that fair, though? Should a series author cater to fools like me who choose to start in the middle? Or do we readers owe it to the author to start at the beginning? After all, if authors didn’t feel obligated to clue in mid-series readers there would be no need for back story.

Hmmm. Interesting question. What do you think? Do you read series fiction? Do you ever start in the middle?

[Via http://burgoo.wordpress.com]

Eric Ambler: A coffin for Demetrios

The English thriller writer  Eric Ambler (1909-1998) is undergoing  a revival – five of his classic novels  from the 1930s have recently been republished by Penguin Classics. Ambler was called “our greatest thriller writer” by Graham Greene, who wasn’t bad at it himself, and Ambler is often cited as the precursor to writers such as John le Carre.

I’ve just read Ambler’s A Coffin for Demetrios  (1939) and despite the obvious period touches (people communicating by ‘pneumatique’, for example, whatever that was) it feels very contemporary. The plot – which involves the heroin trade, stateless refugees, people smuggling, political assassinations, corrupt bankers and the sex industry – could have been written yesterday, not 70 years ago. It’s almost like a season of The Wire.

Ambler’s protagonist is Latimer, who is far from a dashing James Bond type. He’s a writer of cozy crime novels who has never been involved in anything dangerous. But when a Turkish army colonel (and crime fiction fan) tells him of a man named Demetrios who has  been involved in criminal activities across several countries, and who has just been murdered, Latimer becomes fascinated. Never having met a real murderer, and after viewing his body in the morgue, Latimer embarks on a personal research project to uncover  the facts about Demetrios.

His search takes him to Izmir (Smyrna) in Turkey, where Demetrios murdered a Jewish man before escaping from the great fire and massacre of Armenians in 1922, a historical event described by Ambler in horrifying journalistic detail:

“Dragged from their houses and hiding places, men, women and children were butchered in the streets … The wooden walls of the churches, packed with refugees, were drenched with benzene and fired. The occupants who were not burnt alive were bayoneted as they tried to escape.”

Next Latimer goes to Sofia, where Demetrios was involved in the assassination of the Bulgarian President, Stambulisky. This is another historical event - the liberal Stambulisky’s murder by right-wing  terrorists in 1923 was a critical moment in the rise of fascism. Latimer goes on to track Demetrios’s progress through  espionage in Belgrade, running heroin and people smuggling, before his final incarnation as a member of the board of a powerful European financial house, the Eurasian Credit Trust. During his investigations Latimer comes into contact with several of Demetrios’s former associates, a plausible and sinister collection of criminals and spies. Inevitably, he is drawn far deeper into Demetrios’s dangerous world  than he intended.

Ambler’s political sympathies were of the left, which made him unuusal among thriller writers before World War Two – according to Thomas Jones in The Guardian, he “rescued the genre from the jingoistic clutches of third-rate imitators of John Buchan”. The career of Demetrios personifies Ambler’s view of Europe in the 1930s – a corrupt capitalist society in which businessmen, fascists and criminals work together in the pursuit of profit and power.  This too may be regarded as a contemporary theme (see, for example Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine for insight into the workings of “disaster capitalism” today). As one of Latimer’s sources tells him:

“Come now Mr Latimer, be reasonable! The difference between Demetrios and the more respectable type of successful businessman is only a difference of method – legal method or illegal method. Both are in their respective ways equally ruthless.”

Latimer replies “Rubbish!” but observes elsewhere “All the Communists I have ever met have been highly intelligent.”

If A Coffin for Demetrios did no more than take us on a tour of the political, economic and social climate of Europe in the 1920s and 30s, it would still be interesting, but it’s a lot more than that. Ambler knows how to tell a story and the plot moves at a good pace (although you could quibble about the over-frequent appearance of helpful informants  ready to tell everything they know).  He’s a good writer, and a sharp political analyst:

In a dying civilisation, political prestige is the reward not of the shrewdest diagnostician, but of the man with the best bedside manner. It is the decoration conferred on mediocrity by ignorance.

Ambler’s revival is timely and his work is well worth discovering.   The five novels recently reissued are Journey into Fear, Uncommon Danger, Cause for Alarm, The Mask of Dimitrios and Epitaph for a Spy.

 

[Via http://nickgadd.wordpress.com]

WILDFLOWERS - (Orphan Train Trilogy) Robert Noonan [Sharlet Liebel Review]

Robert Noonan, author, creates desperate relationships among 19th Century abused children in A Trilogy: Wildflowers, Bridie’s Daughter, and Secrets. These books carry a social message. Orphan children are delivered on trains. Suspenseful events at a seaport town uncover intrigue and murder. Romantic ties are severed and reunited. Heroines rescue children and heroes support their escapes. A must read at Amazon and other booksellers.

The first book, Wildflowers, begins with three young girls aged eleven years. The children’s lives in 1898 are conflicted by their dire means and search of survival. In the second book, Bridie’s Daughter, readers experience adoptions by loving parents and abusers. Parents are from an elite class, farm workers and ranchers. Some children bond with parents and find love. Others run away. The third book, Secrets, is equally suspenseful and culminates the mysteries that are left dangling in books one and two.

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WILDFLOWERS

In 1898, Hillary Cook is a child devoted to her widowed mother and at 11 years old works. The textile mill in town puts children to work in the factory in 12 hour shifts 6 days a week. She and her young acquaintances meet briefly at work and share church services at a distance. Two of her close friends at work meet Sunday afternoons for their only day off to explore their world of wildflowers and make-believe stories. A significant mystery to them is the talk of children being transferred through their town regularly by train. Disaster befalls one child, then another, and another. These are children known to these three best friends. They cannot ever imagine that one of them might become a victim soon but, in fact, disaster is imminent.

Tragedy and a horrible ending await a child these girls know from the textile mill and a father is to blame. Another child they know is last seen staring out the window of a passing train and none can give the reason. The children forge friendships and adapt to common practices of abuse, poverty, growing up too quickly, and low wages for long hours and dangerous working conditions. Through conversations of town folk, personal experiences, and escapes, these young girls are indoctrinated into harsh and abusive risk-taking that even more mature natures should not have to endure.

Such turmoil in the lives of timid young ladies starts them imagining what they would be capable of enduring in a worst case scenario. Little knowledge is available for them to learn what goes on behind closed doors of abandoned boys and girls. But they learn from worldly children they meet in the streets on a trip to town that some prostitute themselves to survive.

Never mind that the worst of characters is none other than the boss at work who waits for young girls to express needs making them vulnerable to his lecherous advances. Nothing is free in his office as he trades favor for favor.

Life’s circumstances turn for the worst for Hillary, an only child, whose mother is desperately ill. One day, she becomes brave enough to ask for the boss’s favor learning too late of his malicious intent when he offers to pay the rent and doctor bills. She lives with her degrading secret. Her only hope is to leave this town as soon as the opportunity presents itself.

[Via http://sharliebel.wordpress.com]

Book review: 'Breakfast In Bed' by Robin Kaye

For Rich and Becca, it’s definitely not love at first sight — particularly when Becca’s first glimpse of Rich is as he’s stepping out of the shower. Her shower — the one in the apartment she just rented. Or so she thought.

The living arrangements are tricky — the pair have been promised the same New York City space by friends, and Becca arrives with all of her earthly possessions . . . plus a three-legged cat. Rich, a college psychology professor, has recently moved to the city to be closer to girlfriend Gina, an arrangement he thought was working out well. Until Gina unceremoniously dumps him, explaining she needs to be in a relationship with a man a bit more self-reliant than Rich. Someone who can wash his own clothes, clean a house and prepare a meal without the help of his doting mother, say.

Disheartened, Rich turns to Becca for help in becoming a “Domestic God” — a man who can complete any household-related task with pinache! He hopes Gina will be shocked out of her skull to discover how seriously he took her advice — and they’ll pick up their relationship where they left off. And since Rich and Becca can’t reach a conclusion regarding who can “keep” the apartment, Becca’s domestic lessons are a type of trade-off for keeping the peace between them as they co-exist in the space. As long as they keep their hands to themselves, of course.

Which, you know, of course they don’t. Who wouldn’t fall in love with Rich, a handsome, kind-hearted teacher (y’all know I love some teachers)? So what if he can’t even make toast and turns his clothes — and sheets — gray by perpetually messing up the wash? I’d be aggravated, sure, but then I’d set him straight. And we’d live together in perfect romantic harmony, chatting in about academia and eating perfectly-cooked Italian meals. In our gorgeous apartment. In New York City.

But, alas, it’s not that simple. Becca, an artist, has all kinds of emotional baggage from previous relationships — ones in which guys discovered she’s, um, filthy rich and then tried to take her for all she was worth. Understandably jaded, Becca is guarded — and totally not ready to open her heart to Rich. Robin Kaye does a  great job of balancing Becca’s hesitations regarding Rich without making her very annoying the whole time.

Still, I wanted to shake her as the novel wore on. Nervous, fearful and full of all sorts of assumptions regarding Rich, Becca seemed unable to let go of her preconceived notions of the “type” of guy Rich was and actually see him as a man willing — and able — to change. There’s a weird subplot about how Rich needing to be in a stable relationship at the nudging of his boss, which just seemed like an obvious contrivance for the plot’s sake and didn’t work for me.

But beyond that? The dialogue was sassy; the chemistry between the leads was palpable. An entertaining, fun contemporary romance with a few laugh-out-loud moments and excellent peripheral characters. Mike, Becca’s realistically protective older brother, and his wife Annabelle, Rich’s sweet younger sister, provide some balance to the burgeoning love between their siblings. I had a little difficulty keeping the characters and their relationships straight at first, mostly because Breakfast In Bed is actually the third book in Kaye’s series, but I eventually got it all straightened out. And now I’m curious about the first two!

3.75 out of 5!

ISBN: 1402218958 ♥ Purchase from Amazon ♥ Author Website
Review copy provided by publisher

[Via http://writemeg.com]

J.D. Salinger's 'Tin Ear' in 'The Catcher in the Rye' -- Quote of the Day / Jonathan Yardley of the Washington Post

Jonathan Yardley’s late “Second Reading” column for the Washington Post included a scathing and widely read assault of The Catcher in the Rye, “Salinger’s Holden Caulfield, Aging Gracelessly.” Here’s an excerpt from the review, which you can read here:

“The Catcher in the Rye is now, you’ll be told just about anywhere you ask, an ‘American classic,’ right up there with the book that was published the following year, Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. They are two of the most durable and beloved books in American literature and, by any reasonable critical standard, two of the worst. Rereading The Catcher in the Rye after all those years was almost literally a painful experience: The combination of Salinger’s execrable prose and Caulfield’s jejune narcissism produced effects comparable to mainlining castor oil. …

“The cheap sentimentality with which the novel is suffused reaches a climax of sorts when Holden’s literary side comes to the fore. He flunks all his courses except English. ‘I’m quite illiterate,’ he says early in the book, ‘but I read a lot,’ which establishes the mixture of self-deprecation and self-congratulation that seems to appeal to so many readers. …

“Salinger has a tin ear. His characters forever say ‘ya’ for ‘you,’ as in ‘ya know,’ which no American except perhaps a slapstick comedian ever has said. Americans say ‘yuh know’ or ‘y’know,’ but never ‘ya know.’”

You can also follow Jan Harayda (@janiceharayda) on Twitter at www.twitter.com/janiceharayda. She satirizes American literary culture, such as it is, at www.twitter.com/fakebooknews.

[Via http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com]

Dow Reviews Golder & Fitzpatrick, Foucault's Law

Professor Douglas C. Dow of the University of Texas at Dallas Department of Political Science has written a very interesting review of one of the most discussed works of philosophy of law published in the past year, Ben Golder and Professor Peter Fitzpatrick’s Foucault’s Law (2009).

Here is the publisher’s abstract of the book:

“Foucault’s Law is the first book in almost fifteen years to address the question of Foucault’s position on law. Many readings of Foucault’s conception of law start from the proposition that he failed to consider the role of law in modernity, or indeed that he deliberately marginalized it. In canvassing a wealth of primary and secondary sources, Ben Golder and Peter Fitzpatrick rebut this argument. They argue that rather than marginalize law, Foucault develops a much more radical, nuanced and coherent theory of law than his critics have acknowledged. For Golder and Fitzpatrick, Foucault’s law is not the contained creature of conventional accounts, but is uncontainable and illimitable. In their radical re-reading of Foucault, they show how Foucault outlines a concept of law which is not tied to any given form or subordinated to a particular source of power, but is critically oriented towards alterity, new possibilities and different ways of being.

“Foucault’s Law is an important and original contribution to the ongoing debate on Foucault and law, engaging not only with Foucault’s diverse writings on law and legal theory, but also with the extensive interpretive literature on the topic. It will thus be of interest to students and scholars working in the fields of law and social theory, legal theory and law and philosophy, as well as to students of Foucault’s work generally.

In his review, Professor Dow credits the authors for their concept of an “Expulsion Thesis” in Foucault’s writings, according to which “the rule of law and the juridical forms of legitimation have been expelled from modern society by the techniques of discipline and by reason of state norms.” According to Professor Dow, the authors “offer an initial refutation of the one-sidedness of the Expulsion Thesis, through a detailed analysis of DISCIPLINE AND PUNISH, explaining how disciplinary techniques and the human sciences did not simply push the juridical out of its own houses. It was the authority vested in legal officers that validated the truth values of these human sciences and legitimated the experimental techniques of bio-power. The juridical and the disciplinary exist as independent, if symbiotic, modes of power. This is a careful and persuasive analysis, a highlight of the book.”

Professor Dow also praises the authors for discussing Foucault’s treatment of law in “articles …[written] during the mid 1960s, concerning avant-garde literary figures such as Maurice Blanchot and George Bataille,” in addition to the well-known treatment of law in Foucault’s writings of the 1970s.

Nonetheless, Professor Dow identifies several shortcomings in Foucault’s Law. First, he criticizes the authors for failing to “explain the relationships between” Foucault’s writings on law of the 1960s and his writings on law of the following decade.

Second, Professor Dow, noting that the authors draw extensively on the discussion of law in the writings of philosopher Jacques Derrida, argues that the authors should have explained “the relationship between [Foucault and Derrida] .. more carefully.”

Third, according to Professor Dow, although the authors use the term “law” to refer to many different concepts in Foucault’s writings, the authors neglect to distinguish clearly between these concepts, and devote insufficient space to explaining the role of each of these concepts in Foucault’s social and political thought.

Finally, Professor Dow asserts that the authors fail adequately to explain the role that time plays in Foucault’s legal theory. Professor Dow concludes, “Ultimately, in order to make good on their assertions, Golder and Fitzpatrick need to have written a longer book.”

[Via http://legalinformatics.wordpress.com]

Two Guys Read Jane Austen by Steve Chandler and Terrence N. Hill

During a lunch not long ago with our dear Mimi, I was given a gift in addition to her scintillating company. This fun book has a hilarious premise: “two grown men in their early sixties . . . reading Jane Austen together . . . [which] sounds like something an army psychological warfare unit would turn to if waterboarding were outlawed . . . as a way to break a man . . . down and surrender his manhood forever.” The book delivers on its comedic promises, which sometimes means our joint epistolary narrators make mean comments about stars (ex: Meg Ryan reminding us of “the little yellow duck we used to float in the bathtub when we were children”), and other times means we’ll hear these men’s ideas on a lot of seemingly random things—from aging to bad TV, from America’s weight problem (we don’t play piano) to horseracing. Most of the time, these interesting diversions lead back to Austen, and ultimately, a real appreciation of her art.

Lest you worry that the men read Austen in a vacuum, we are almost immediately informed that one of the long-time friends is also a longtime Austen reader (and fan); only one is a newbie. Both of their wives are encouraging of their new endeavor. They use Nabokov’s lectures to help with Mansfield Park (did all of you know about this resource?) And the men really get Austen. One comments that Mr. Collins is so skillfully set up that, by the end, readers are laughing every time he shows up, let alone every time he speaks. Terry addresses the age difference between Elizabeth and Charlotte, Jane Austen’s view of Charlotte’s choice, and his own, very different view of it. Throughout their readings of Pride and Prejudice and later, Mansfield Park, both men reflect deeply and lightly on the texts and connect the principles to what is happening in their own lives. The reader, then, is entertained on multiple fronts simultaneously.

Though we might appear to have differing perspectives, the gentlemen and I had similar thoughts on several occasions. When Ursula LeGuin pops up in a letter, I was immediately reminded of Grigg’s (Hugh Dancy) interest in her in the Robin Swicord film of The Jane Austen Book Club. Then, within just a few pages, Terry tells Steve that he and his wife should see the film! Steve watched the bio of Jane Austen on the DVD, which means he must have seen our own Claire Bellanti! Terry compares Austen to Oscar Wilde at one point. My AP class the very week I read that passage planned to don shirts they designed themselves with the profile of Wilde battling with the profile of Austen. Under Wilde, text reads: “Women are a decorative sex.” Under Austen, “Only stupid men are worth knowing after all.” My brilliant teenagers saw the same satirical bent in these two writers that Terry did! And these guys cry at the happy parts of the novels, and celebrate Jane Austen’s birthday like we do, too.

They’re also very funny. After observing that Jane Austen heroines are “classy women who combine high intelligence with inner strength and virtue,” Steve contrasts them with what he calls “the opposite of a Jane Austen heroine.” One example might be the woman on her cell phone who seems to be in need of some immediate group therapy. Given that I was at the gym while I read this section of the text, I found the comments particularly amusing. I am often shocked (and remember, I work with teenagers, so very little should shock me) by the deeply personal discussions I overhear people having on their cell phones (when they should be working out too hard to have meaningful conversation). I had never really connected my frustration with that type of self-centered and simultaneously not self-aware behavior with my respect for the Jane Austen heroine (not as much Marianne Dashwood as the others) who shows some propriety. But it makes sense.

Many of the observations in the letters make sense. Terry comments that as he ages, he is “less amused by fictions.” (Pride and Prejudice makes the cut nonetheless). Steve calls Mary Crawford “Elizabeth Bennet’s evil twin—Elizabeth without the conscience.” Now perhaps we all feel a bit better about being drawn to her. Jane Austen is so great, one letter tells us, because she is the “absolute master at presenting love as a function of the mind.” The men disagree politically, but, rare as this seems to be in our world, they are still close friends who respect each other’s intellect and morality (isn’t that how it should be?!). Steve and Terry, then, offer wisdom that includes, but is not limited to, Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park, and they do it with spunk, irreverence for some subjects, and reverence for Austen, which is, I think, as it should be.

One of my masters advisors, Professor Richard Kroll of UC Irvine, passed away last February, much too young. I think if he had read Two Guys Read Jane Austen, he would have commented in his distinctive, straightforward way: “This is a very smart book.”

[Via http://fansofjane.wordpress.com]

Write unto the Lord: Interview with Castles in the Sand author

My Word Like Fire deemed Castles in the Sand the Most Significant Book of 2009.[1] Jim Fletcher of WorldNetDaily gave the novel a strong endorsement.[2] Castles in the Sand will continue to grow in popularity.  So, how did this book come about? The author, Carolyn A. Greene, graciously agreed to answer the following questions:  1.Why did you write this book?
After several years of researching the spread of contemplative spirituality into evangelical churches and seminaries, I was at a loss as to how to get a warning message out to Christians who were getting involved in it. Most alarming and troubling was how youth groups and Bible colleges were walking the prayer labyrinth and being mentored in centering/contemplative prayer. A common thread through all this was that the recommended reading for many of these students included St. Teresa of Avila’s writings. After attending several Bible conferences and hearing experts like Ray Yungen and Roger Oakland explain the dangers of this ancient spirituality, and noticing that mostly gray haired people were in attendance, I wondered how this message could be brought to the younger generation who were not likely to delve into a heavily documented book exposing the emerging church or the contemplative movement.  At the time, there was a best selling book out there which so many Christians were reading and saying how it totally changed their view of God, and even their lives – but it was completely unbiblical. I observed that fiction can be an extremely powerful method of teaching, and so I asked the Lord if he would give me a fictional story that told the truth. I spent a lot of time seeking the Lord and praying about it. Then one morning while I was buttering my toast, the story came to me, and I quickly wrote it out in a matter of weeks.

2.Is this something you have encountered personally?
Yes. I became aware of this spirituality when I was exposed to it through an evangelical church I was attending at the time. I became involved in contemplative prayer, centering prayer, and journaling, under the direction of my church leaders, one of whom was my Spiritual Director. But there were constant warning bells, and as I looked into these new practices I was being taught, the Lord led me into contact with Lighthouse Trails Research, where I was simply stunned when I discovered why the Holy Spirit had been urging me to come out of this false teaching.

3. How can other Christians learn (and warn) about Contemplative Spirituality?
First of all, I believe that the reason so many well meaning Christians are slipping into a contemplative coma is that they do not know or study their Bibles. The best way to recognize a counterfeit is to know the original very well. The counterfeit Jesus of contemplative spiritual formation will eventually lead you to universalism (all paths lead to God). Those who are becoming involved in CP, or who know those who are, need to seek the Lord in prayer, first of all, and secondly, there are lots of ministries who have excellent documented research in the form of articles, DVD’s and books on this subject. Lighthouse Trails comes to mind.  When warning others, it’s very important to pray for them, as this is a very strong spiritual deception, and as you know, a good deception is always very close to the real thing, and may even contain truth. It can be very difficult to convince those involved that they are being deceived. Only the Lord can open their eyes to the truth.

4. Will there be a sequel?
There is possibly a sequel in the works. It completely depends on the Lord’s enabling.

5. Was this a difficult book to write?
The most difficult part was researching. I had to get to know Teresa if I was to write about her, and that required a lot of reading, taking notes, condensing and gathering of information, and putting it together in an interesting way. That was the hard part. The rest of the story, characters, and plots seemed to flow out effortlessly. However, having never written a book before, I learned that a major part of writing is the rewriting, and during the editing process, many things were changed and added. I learned later that you are supposed to have an outline or plan, and character descriptions, before you write. Closer to the publishing deadline there was a lot of unexpected work, but I loved doing it. In spite of some last minute changes, the story stayed 100% true to the original idea that popped into my head that morning as I was buttering my toast.

Endnotes:

1. http://mywordlikefire.wordpress.com/2009/12/15/most-significant-book-of-2009/

2. Jim Fletcher, WorldNetDaily http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=121090

[Via http://mywordlikefire.wordpress.com]

And the Rain Came...

Last year, Alice Springs had only 77mm (about 3 inches) of rain for the entire year.

In the past two days, we’ve had 134mm (over 5 inches)…

The Todd River, usually a dry sandy expanse fringerd by towering River Red Gums, has broken its banks. It’s a swirling, muddy morass, flowing out into the Simpson Desert and recharging our precious underground water supply.

We don’t get a lot of rain here, and we love it when it rains. There’s crazy tourists to watch, who take loads of photos of the Todd River in flow. And there’s locals, who just stand and watch the river, the rain, the clouds, enjoying something we don’t often see. Of course, there will be an explosion of mosquitoes (mozzies in Australian English), ready to gobble my blood.

Apparently, the Ghan Train was stopped at Ti-Tree because the tracks were washed away and it had to go back to Darwin. The waterholes will be full, birds and animals will breed, trees will flower and we’ll have a magnificent bloom of desert annual flowers.  Photos, photos, photos!

Blogging Update

There’s a new page for my new blog (I Hate Books) at the top of the page. I want to improve the design of the new blog and need some help with adding a background pattern and a suitable background colour. I would like something Eastern/Indian Spicy. If you’re good at CSS in WordPress.com blogs, please leave a comment. I’m too chicken to brave the somewhat blunt and rude WordPress Forums.

At I Hate Books, I’m going to be blogging about books, book culture, books challenges, and perhaps some world music as well.  This means that I won’t be posting books reviews here anymore.

State of Mind

I have been doing a lot of asana which does seem to be helping. I’m feeling better mentally, although I had a couple of really bad days this week. I almost thought we weren’t going to Indonesia, due to a hiccup with Mr AnthroYogini’s leave.  Which was devastating.

My leave coincides with Mark Whitwell’s visit to Melbourne, which Nadine is organising. So yet again, I won’t be able to see Mark

I have been able to get through a month of doing yoga 5 days per week, and I really feel it’s made a difference. I’ve also started running again (although the rain put a hole in my schedule over the last few days) and I’ve completed two weeks of one of the harder Turbulence Training programs.

I need to get up my courage to go back to the gym, and to get out of bed and go running of a morning rather than in the afternoons. It’s often 40 degrees (Celcius) here through summer, so afternoon running leave you dehydrated! Anyone want to nag me to get out of bed? I have no problem waking up. I just lay there and read, or get up and make breakfast.

As for the gym… it’s the attention of other people and the questions about how I am and where I’ve been. Comments like: ‘…hello stranger…” that I don’t want to face. Sure they’re well-meaning, but when you live in a small town, are an ex-instructor and are depressed, you don’t want attention. You just want to be an anonymous participant at the back of the class.  I think the only way to get over this is to go with Rhiannon (whose teaching at the gym on her uni break), so that attention is diverted from me. It’s that first class that’s got me.

I can’t face it alone, I don’t feel my usual fearless self.

[Via http://anthroyogini.wordpress.com]

A Death in the Family - James Agee

Review by Tom

A Death in the Family (1958), written by American writer James Agee, is the story of, and I’ll let the suspense build here a little, a death in the family.  The death in question is Agee’s father, who died when the author was a young boy.  The loss of his father obviously had a lasting effect on Agee.

The novel explores the way each family member grieves the death of the father, mainly through descriptions of the characters interior thought process.  The novel contains sparse dialogue and no real plot to speak of. Essentially the father dies, and towards the end of the novel a funeral is held.

A Death in the Family was published posthumously.  The manuscript wasn’t quite finished when Agee died, and there are sections written by Agee that weren’t in the final manuscript before Agee died, that have been included (annoyingly in italics in the version I read) by the editor.  Due to the lack of a strong plot in the novel, the fact that the novel wasn’t completely finished doesn’t cause any disconcerting jumps for the reader.

From the small amount I have read about this book on the ‘net, it is often a proscribed text for high school students in the United States.  It is easy to understand why this is the case, the novel is not overly long, is excellently written, and explores important themes such as religion and religious doubt, family and death.

In a way this book was also a proscribed text for me, as it is on Time magazine’s Top 100 All Time Novels list which I am reading in an attempt to make up for an, at times, fairly poor English literature education at school.

Unfortunately I also often felt like a school student who has been forced to read some weighty and culturally important text. While I appreciated why this book had been placed on Time’s list, it was excellently written, the characters are nuanced, real and empathetic and the subject matter being explored is important, I found it boring and difficult to read.

I’m not sure exactly how long this text is (I read it on the Amazon Kindle app for the iPhone – I’ll be writing more on my experiences reading on the iPhone in another post), but I guesstimate its length at less than 200 pages in a paper back. Despite its short length it took nearly 4 months for me to read this book.

The problem with reading off a list of important intellectual novels, is that occasionally you run into ones that you struggle to finish (don’t get me started on Virginia Woolf). I think that a Death in the Family is a good book, it just didn’t hold my interest. Blame in on the Gen-Y-Grew-Up-On-The-Internet-No-Attention-Span if you like, but this book isn’t going on my Top 10 list any time soon.

I encourage you to read this book if you like short succinct prose, well developed characters, early-20th-century America and you aren’t intimidated by pages of descriptive writing without a quotation mark in sight. Otherwise, I’d suggest you use your literary time and dollar else where.

[Via http://writeronwriter.wordpress.com]