A Creepy Second Novel

So, I picked up The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold because of how much I enjoyed her first novel, The Lovely Bones. I guess I was hoping that this second novel would be just as good. It wasn’t. I think fans of The Lovely Bones will be disappointed by The Almost Moon.

The novel opens with a confession that sets the whole story up; Helen Knightly killed her mother. Once we know this, we are subject to all kinds of details about the 48 or so hours following the murder and about the things that led up to the murder. Was Helen’s mother a horrible woman who deserved to be killed by her daughter? Was the murder really a mercy killing of a dying woman? What finally pushed Helen to commit this murder?

At the opening of the novel, after admitting that she killed her mother, Helen acknowledges that she had wanted to do it her whole life. So, was Helen’s mother just that awful? I don’t think so. Yes, she was difficult but really Claire Knightly seems to be a pathetic, mentally ill woman. This makes Helen’s actions seem all the more heinous, in my opinion. Plus, I’ve read Alice Sebold’s memoir, Lucky, and the mother character in The Almost Moon just seems too similar to the way Sebold describes her own mother. I did not love this book, I read it but I don’t recommend it. The Almost Moon is definitely not a great second novel.

We have a winner!

I decided to draw the winner before we go to the party. So....drum roll please.....the winner is



CLARE


Thanks to all who participated, I really enjoyed it!

Now I'm going to enter a contest

This was the opening contest of the 24 hour book a thon but I'm just now getting around to entering.

Matrimony is an October Booksense Pick and a book Dewey just loved! The author, Joshua Henkin, says, “I’d like to give away a free copy of MATRIMONY to one of your readers.” What a great guy!

All you have to do to enter the contest and have a chance to win a copy of Matrimony (autographed, of course) is post in your blog, emailing the blurb to Henkin, saying anything you can think of about the book. Joshua's email address is jhenkin at slc dot edu.

Dewey's review of the book really makes me want to read it immediately. I am so thrilled about it that I already sent a purchase request to the collection development librarian where I work. I'm planning on suggesting the book to the book discussion group that I run for my library. We're needing a selection for January and this one might just be perfect.

I'm interested in a book that portrays a long marriage, with all its ups and downs. One review that I read said that Matrimony gives marriage a good name. Sounds lovely, I can't wait to read it. So, Joshua, pick me, pick me!

It's time for a mini challenge

Hey 24 hour Read-a-thon readers! It's time for a fun mini-challenge. Take a break from reading and post a little bit about what you are reading. Some of you might know that I'm a librarian. One of the things I'm interested in professionally is reader's advisory. So, post a little bit about what you are reading and who you think might enjoy the book. Tell us what book is similar to what you are reading or which other author is similar to the author of your book. I'm really excited to read your entries so be sure to post a comment so I'll know where to look.

Now, for the prizes. I'll draw a winner from those who participate and that winner will get a librarian action figure (because librarians are superheroes too) and their choice of Book Lust OR Book Crush by Nancy Pearl. This contest is only open to 24 hour Read-a-thon readers and you must post and comment before the end of the hour (that is, before 9pm GMT). Good luck to all and thanks for sharing your thoughts about what you are reading.


ETA: Thanks to all who participated! I really enjoyed reading your posts. I'll draw for the prize in a little while and post as soon as I can (have to take my daughter to a birthday party first so it will probably be a couple of hours).

24 Hour Read-a-thon cheering

I'm so excited to be a cheerleader for this year's 24 hour read-a-thon. I decided not to be a reader because the likelihood of my being able to read for 24 hours with a 13 month old is slim to none. Cheering, though, I can do! I'll try to visit all the readers at some point during the day. I'll also be hosting a fun mini challenge at 8pm GMT (12 noon PDT, where I am) so be sure to check back because I have a fun prize to give away.

Here's a list of the participating readers. Have fun reading!

1 More Chapter
A Patchwork of Books
A Striped Armchair
Aquatique
Bebo Author
Becky's Books
Book Glutton
Bookgirl's Nightstand
Dog's Eye View
Ed's Thread
Eliza Tucker
Errant Dreams
Jason Erik Lundberg
Joystory
Just Another Musing
Keeper of the Snails
Life
Naked Without Books
Nothing of Importance
OCD Man
Pages Turned
S.M.S. Book Reviews
So Many Books
So Many Books, So Little Time
Teen Book Review
The Armenian Odar Reads
the deblog
The Smug Cloud
There's Something About Translation

What if you won?

I would say that the opening line of Lottery by Patricia Wood is destined to go down in history as one of the all time great opening lines. "My name is Perry L. Crandall and I am not retarded." If that doesn't make you want to keep reading then I don't know what would. I'm glad I finally decided to read this book. I've actually seen it on the shelf the last 5 or 6 times I've been at the library. I kept picking it up, reading the flap and deciding not to check it out. Then another blogger (unfortunately I can't remember who) reviewed it and really enjoyed it so I decided I'd better give it a chance. Really, I'm glad I did.

Lottery tells the story of Perry L. Crandall. Perry tells us that the L stands for Lucky and then proves it by winning $12 million in the Washington State Lottery. Perry's IQ is 76 which he says means he's slow, not retarded because retarded starts at 75. He hates being called retarded. Perry is a great character. I love the way he's written. I love that he won the lottery and, actually, I love what he ends up doing with the money he won.

My husband and I never buy lottery tickets but we do play the "what would you do" game, especially when the PowerBall gets up to $200 million or whatever. So, what would you do if you won the lottery?

Tis better to give...

I heard some people talking about how Bill Clinton's new book, Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World, really inspired them and changed their perspectives. Hearing that kind of praise made me want to read the book so I checked it out last week. It was a fine book. Clinton laid out different ways of giving: money, time, things, etc. and talked about why people should give. The book is full of stories about givers, some of them were able to give millions of dollars away (Bill Gates) and others give a few hours a month. His point was that we can all make a difference, no matter the size of the gift we are able to give. It was a good book but I didn't really think it was all that ground breaking. It basically sounded like stuff I heard in Sunday School my whole life!

On Friendship, Books and Life

I don't know exactly what I was expecting when I picked up Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik. I guess I thought I was in for a kind of Bridget Jones for the housewife set. I don't know if that makes sense. I guess the bottom line is that I wasn't expecting such a wonderful book. I laughed. I cried. I added tons of titles to my to-read list. This book was definitely worth the read!

Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons is the story of a group of women who live on the same block and decide to form a book club in 1968. I think the club gets started at first simply as a way to fight off boredom and it definitely serves that purpose. It also creates and strengthens friendships that last a lifetime. The book ends when the club is celebrating their 30th anniversary but that doesn't mean the club ended. In my head this fictional characters live on and are still reading fabulous books.

I love the friendships that are depicted in this book. I love that they are real, that there are fights and disagreements. I love that the book club members have such different views and beliefs and that they are all able to get along and intelligently discuss any topic. I love that the titles they read are so different, sometimes popular novels, sometimes works of non-fiction, sometimes classic novels. The book made me want to read all the books that the club read...just so I could decide which member I wanted to be like! I wish I had a book club like the one in this book.

A Carnival of Bookworms

Welcome to the October edition of the Bookworms Carnival! Even if this weren't the month of Halloween I'd want to read scary stories. There's just something about the chill in the air, the falling leaves, the patter of rain on the roof that invites me to curl up with a book that is deliciously thrilling. I'm so thrilled by the range of titles represented in the reviews submitted for this carnival. There are classics like Dracula, Beowulf, and Northanger Abbey. There are books that I consider new classics like Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrel, The Historian, and The Handmaid's Tale. I'm excited that there are children's and young adult books represented in this carnival and really enjoyed reading both the author interview and the book excerpt. My to-read list has definitely grown and I hope yours will too! So, without further ado, here are Thrills and Chills: Spooky Books That Keep You Up at Night:

Callista at SMS Book Reviews says she doesn't usually read horror novels but she loved Joe Schreiber's zombie novel, Chasing the Dead.

Valentina at Valentina's Reading Room reviews Verdigris Deep by Frances Hardinge, a children's thriller.

Karen at Miscellaneous Adventures of an Aussie Mum read the ultimate gothic novel, Dracula by Bram Stoker.

Chris at Book-a-rama read The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier.

Dewey at The Hidden Side of a Leaf read Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrel by Susanna Clarke.

Linda at Vermeulenblog recommends The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King. She even got to meet Tom Gordon in person once!

Becky at Becky's Book Reviews gives The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova a somewhat mixed review.

Heather at Errant Dreams Reviews read Vintage Vermont Villanies by John Stark Bellamy II. Even the title gives me the chills!

Book Nut at Melissa's Book Reviews reviews The Rest Falls Away and Rises the Night both by Colleen Gleason. These are books 1 and 2 of the Gardella Vampire Chronicles. She reviewed both books as a guest reviewer on Book Binge.

Joana at The Symposium read Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer, from a series of books that has been very popular at my library.

Tea Party Girl read The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein.

Annie at Reading is my Superpower read The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall.

Suzanne at Adventures in Daily Living shares her review of Beowulf as translated by Seamus Heaney.

Ana at Things Mean A Lot reviews The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly.

Jenny at The So Called Me compares four different books in her Four Books Battle. The winner of this battle was Law & Order: Dead Line by J. Madison Davis.

Verbivore Reader reviews both The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

James at Nearly Nothing but Novels read The Unquiet Night by Patricia Carlon.

Eva at A Striped Armchair read The Ghost Writer by John Harwood.

Philippa at Zed Sounds reviews I am Legend by Richard Matheson.

John at The Book Mine Set read In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka.

Zen-Mother read The Reincarnationist by MJ Rose.

artThailand reviews but doesn't exactly recommend The First Casualty by Ben Elton.

Gautami Tripathy at My Own Little Reading Room recommends a classic, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen.

Book Lists

Scott at College and Finance shares a list of the Top Ten Most Popular Books in College. It's no surprise that the number one book is Harry Potter, a thriller of the best kind.

Host Bee at Busy Bee Lifestyle has a list of great Book Ideas for a Mother-Daughter Book Club. Sounds like a fun book group idea.


Author Interviews

Linda Jo Martin at Perspectives on Writing shares a very interesting interview with Donna Alice Patton, author of The Cattle Rustling Catastrophe, an adventure story for children.

Book Excerpts

Mark A. Rayner submitted an excerpt from his novel The Amadeus Net.

Book Awards Challenge #4

The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields made it on to my Book Awards Reading Challenge by accident, in a way. I was just interested in participating in the challenge so I went through a bunch of award lists and chose titles that seemed interesting to me. I am so glad that I accidentally chose to read this title. It just might make it on to my top ten list, that is, top ten novels I've ever read.

The Stone Diaries is the account of Daisy Stone Goodwill's life, as told by herself. She was born in 1905 and died in the 1990s and, so, her life also tells the story of the tumultuous decades of the twentieth century. I love that each stage of her life offers some truth about the decade in which it occurred. I love that she doesn't let any one event from her life be the whole definition of her life. Yes, she was twice widowed but she doesn't think about herself only in those terms. Yes, she was a mother, an author, a gardener, an aunt, a friend but no one facet of her life describes it all...she is just Daisy.

I'm just so glad I chose to read this book. I'm also glad that I was able to purchase a copy at the Friends of the Library booksale last week! This one is definitely one to be read over and over again.

On politics, television and critical thinking

In some ways the premise of The Assault on Reason by Al Gore is very similar to the last book I read, Why We Read What We Read. Both books argue that Americans have lost their ability to think critically and that is partly because we don't really know how to read anymore. The authors of WWRWWR lay the blame for this problem at the feet of the educational system. Al Gore argues that this is partly the result of our society's increasing reliance on television and other non-print media for all our news and information. He points out that our lack of critical thinking skills and willingness to accept whatever we are told has led to this administration's ability to stretch the truth (or lie, depending on how nefarious you think this administration is), expand executive privilege at an alarming rate, and irreparably damage our country's reputation and position in the world. Yes, the words seem strong but in Gore's view, and in the view of many other citizens, things are just that dire.

I am no fan of the Bush administration but for me the most compelling parts of this book were not the parts outlining the administration's faults. Rather, I found the parts examining the actions, or inactions, of society as a whole to be more interesting. The beginning section of the book talks about the "vicarious traumatization" that television can produce. Research indicates that the physical effects of watching trauma on television are the same as if an individual has actually experienced the traumatic events directly. I know, read it again...I had to.

It's no wonder that September 11 has had such a dramatic impact on our nation...we all watched the events of that day over and over and over. Surveys have shown that the more television coverage a person watched that day, the more stress a person felt. I'm sure this comment will upset some people but I've often felt like some of our reactions to September 11 were way out of proportion. I know people who practically have flash backs to that day, as if they were actually there...and I live just about as far from NYC as you can possibly live and still be on this continent. The thing is, it was a terrible day but we (and here I am referring to the American people as a whole) have used it to justify actions that are in no way related. It's as if we have national PTSD.

Okay, so I've really gotten carried away in this review. In all honestly, the book is not that readable. I think Al Gore might have missed his calling, he writes like a sociology professor! I had to just slog through sometimes, forcing myself to go on. I pressed on because my mother recommended the book (hi mom!) and because the subject matter really is that interesting. I don't necessarily buy in to all that Al Gore claims in this book and I'm not sure things are really as bad as he thinks but things are definitely bad. I really think the American people are just sitting down on the job...we need start paying better attention because it's not good and it could get worse.

Is She Sleeping Through the Night Yet?

Right now my least favorite motherhood question is "is she sleeping through the night yet?" My answer: no, not yet. At that point I usually get an incredulous look which I interpret to mean, "and you call yourself a mother." (Yes, I'm aware that this interpretation of what are probably very meaningless looks is a sign of some deep seated paranoia and/or resentment...let's not delve into that too deeply.)

No, my 13 month old is not sleeping through the night yet. As a matter of fact, she still wakes at least twice every night...sometimes more than that.

In some ways this night waking is a continuation of a dilemma I am working out even during the day. For the last 13 months I have responded to my daughter's every cry immediately. I felt like that was my main way of communicating love to her. Since she could only communicate by crying, I communicated back by responding. It worked very well and I think she's a fairly well adjusted toddler.

That's the thing, though. Now she's a toddler. I feel like now it's time for her to learn a little bit of patience. I feel like it's okay for her to wait 5 minutes while I take laundry out of the dryer. Not that laundry is more important than she is but that sometimes we have to wait for things and that's okay. I feel like it's time for her to learn to sleep through the night. I just don't know how to accomplish this, or how long I should let her cry hoping that she'll just fall back to sleep. I just want a normal night of sleep again. I don't want to keep sleeping in the guest room with Helen...I much prefer staying in my own bed with my husband.

I'm just writing this as a way of venting. If you choose to comment, please don't recommend any sleep books. I've read 10,000 books about getting your baby to sleep (yes, I've read the "No-cry, baby whisperer's, happiest baby on the block, sleep easy, sleep lady's sleep solution book"). I'm sure all the aforementioned books are absolutely fantastic...they just aren't for me and, honestly, they end up depressing me! I don't know any 18 year olds who are still nursing, still need to be rocked to sleep, still getting up every 2 hours and refusing to be consoled. I know this stage will pass eventually!

Reading for Transformation

I love it when newly purchased books arrive at the library. I feel just like a kid on Christmas Day. Sometimes we purchase books at the request of a patron and, obviously, those books go immediately to the patron doing the requesting. Other times we purchase books to fill holes in our collection or replace worn out copies. In those cases the books usually go directly to the shelves...or directly to my checkout pile. I make some really fantastic discoveries when I open boxes of newly purchased books.

My latest discovery is Why We Read What We Read: A Delightfully Opinionated Journey Through Contemporary Bestsellers by Lisa Adams and John Heath. I thought I was picking up just another book about books. You know, the kind that helps you add to your "to be read" list (as if I need help in that area). Instead I found it to be a thought-provoking look at what Americans are reading and what those choices might say about our society. I really couldn't put this book down and found the book's conclusions to be very troubling, to say the least.

Adams and Heath took a look at the best seller lists from Publisher's Weekly and USA Today between 1993 and 2003. Their tour of these lists revealed some very interesting similarities in the books Americans choose to read. Their main conclusion is that the American public is looking for easy answers. We want to be able to change our lives just by adopting The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. We hope to change our bodies simply by discovering the Atkins-South Beach-Zone diet of the moment. We get our political information from authors who think exactly like us (don't even get me started on Ann Coulter). We look for easy answers to spiritual questions. We want to believe that every story has a happy ending.

For the authors, the most distressing part of this whole equation is that it is the most highly educated portion of our society that does most of this reading. They believe this indicates that the American educational system is failing to really teach us how and why to read. The authors claim this is a threat to our democracy because "the ability to read well...is exactly the talent Americans of the twenty-first century must possess if they are to sift critically through mounds of information and competing claims of truth." (276) They believe bestsellers of the time reflect a cause and effect relationship with our educational system: fewer Americans are being taught to read or think critically and in response bestsellers are repetitively one dimensional.

Why We Read What We Read really caused me to stop and consider why I read what I read. I mean, what, exactly, am I looking for when I pick up a book? Do I want affirmation of what I already believe? Am I looking for the easy solution to whatever problems I might be facing? Or am I really looking to have my thoughts and beliefs challenged and, perhaps, transformed? I don't think books should be easy. I believe the written word has the power to change...it may be a cliche but the pen really is mightier than the sword! So, do I read because I want to consider the bigger questions, hone my opinions, and, just maybe, reconsider my place in the world? I hope so.

Nobody likes a know it all

My mom's book club is reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles for this month's meeting. Since I hadn't read any Sherlock Holmes mysteries I decided to read along this time. Actually, many of this year's selections look really interesting to me so I'll probably be reading along more often than not. I'm glad I read The Hound of the Baskervilles, especially since it is regarded as a classic. I read that the novel was originally published in 1901 as a serial and, honestly, I imagine that was a much better way to read the story.

For me, the actual mystery aspect of The Hound of the Baskervilles was pretty easy to figure out. So, I wouldn't recommend the novel solely on its merits as a mystery. I also do not like Sherlock Holmes. It started off poorly for Sherlock and I, really from the first chapter I found him to be a snobby know-it-all...and I really didn't like the way he treated Dr. Watson. It's a little irritating that Dr. Watson did all the foot work... all Holmes did was sit in a cottage and think about things... and Holmes gets all the credit. Dr. Watson would have solved the case eventually! He's not an idiot, after all. The bottom line is, I only like one know-it-all....myself :).

I did really enjoy the descriptions in The Hound of the Baskervilles. I loved the pictures Sir Arthur Conan Doyle painted of the moors and especially of the Grimpen Mire. The descriptions definitely transported me to that time and place and really made me want to visit Devonshire. Maybe someday. Anyway, The Hound of the Baskervilles was a fun read so it wasn't a total loss...I guess I'm just not a big Sherlock Holmes fan.

A Little Bit Like Going Home

I love Richard Preston. He is so good at making science seem cool, even to people like me who have no science knowledge whatsoever. His latest book, The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring, high in the tops of the tallest trees on the planet. I loved the book. It made me love the trees. It renewed my awe at the diversity of creation. It made me mourn the loss of such large percentages of these trees. It made me want to work to save the ones that are left. It really is a beautiful book.

In some ways this book was a little like going home. A lot of Preston's story takes place in the temperate rain forests of the Pacific Northwest. I could smell the rain throughout much of the book. The researchers that study the trees hail from universities in Washington, Northern California, and, most significantly, Oregon State University, my husband's alma mater located in the town I grew up in. When Preston talks about clear cutting I can picture the scene he describes. When he mentioned spotted owls I immediately flashed back to the controversy of my youth. Perhaps part of the reason I loved Preston's book so much was because it reminded me of home. That's not the only reason, though. I wanted to study Ebola and other dangerous viruses after reading The Hot Zone. In the same way, I want to save the trees after reading The Wild Trees. I think you'll want to save the trees too...and I think that's a pretty great reason to recommend this book.