Should You Bother? Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clark

It's been a hot minute since I last posted, because Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell was a LONG BOOK. At first glance, this book seems to be right up my ally. It's fantasy, set in Edwardian London, about magicians. Sold! 1,000 pages? About magic? Easy. Oh, there's a BBC show? Sure! Let me finish reading this book first!

I first bought the auiobook of this at first, and it was really wordy. I couldn't follow along as I completed work, so I had to put it down. Sometimes reading the book versus listening to it is more manageable, so I figured I would check it out of the library and give it a second chance.

I should have trusted my gut. It's not that it was bad. Clark is incredibly inventive and creative, taking Edwardian London and twisting it to include magic as if our universe always had magic.

But it was wordy, and about... 400 pages too long?  There were footnotes, that I skipped for much of the book. I don't remember a lot of what happened, except Jonathan Strange in the war, there was some beef with Mr. Norrell and Jonathan, and some women got into deep shit because of Strange and Mr. Norrell.

It soon became interesting about 7/8th of the way through, but I'm not sure if it's because I was excited to be finished the book, or actually the events in Venice were interesting. I could even argue that there should have been 2 books, but so much of Jonathan Strange was unmemorable that I don't think 2 books would have been wise.

So, should you bother? No. The BBC show was entertaining, and cut out most of the book to focus on the key points. It made for a more enjoyable way to experience the story instead of muddling through 1,000 pages of a book. 

Discworld #1, Rincewind: The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett's books have been in the peripheral of my "to read" books for a long time. I didn't really grow up with him, so when he passed away, many of my friends were devastated (he's a national hero in Britain), but since at that moment I hadn't read any of his stuff, I didn't feel a connection to him since I hadn't read any of his books. But the devastation (which was on the level that I presume will be my devastation when JK Rowling eventually passes away) peaked my curiosity, and when Josh and I joined the library, I thought now would be a good time to read some of his stuff.

Currently I have not acquired book number 2 of the series, (though I've read you don't have to read them in order, however, I'm not sure if my OCD can handle that), which is the only downside of the public library. Lots of holds and a lot of waiting.

Nevertheless, I am really excited to read through the rest of the series. Before I read the book, some of the reviews praised the creation and the utilization of Discworld and how innovative Pratchett was with hatching out and exploring Discworld. As someone who enjoys world building, fantasy and science fiction, it's very easy to find patterns in how authors create these worlds based off of trends in the market place. Dystopian "the one" novels (Hunger Games, Divergent, etc.), suffering vampires (Anne Rice, Twilight, Vampire Academy, etc.), so on and so forth. Discworld does not follow trends and there seems to be nothing else like it, even now, even years after this was written.

I was under the grave assumption that Discworld was a YA novel, so therefore, I had to work harder to understand what the heck was going on in the first 20 pages than I had all of Rick Riordan's YA book series... and Hunger Games combined.

However, once I got the hang of Pratchett's style and wit, which is inherently British (and therefore, made bit a bit homesick for Britain), I thought it was creative and funny. The Color of Magic follows two characters, a failed wizard and the first tourist to ever come to Ankh-Morpork, Twoflower and Rincewind, the wizard who failed out of magic school and only knows 1 magic spell (that will essentially end the world if he ever utters it). The bumbling pair, one plagued by ineptitude and the other by FOMO, get into all kinds of shenanigans where they almost died, but also, see a lot of Discworld that either of them never seen before (Rincewind does not care to see it, but Twoflower is elated too).

It's colorful, inventive and Pratchett does not waste a word. Those who've read the other books in the series state that there are much better books, but this one is good. I was entertained and I can't wait to read the others.

Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs by Molly Harper

The title is awful. Yes, yes it is. At first, I didn't want to buy this book, but alas, it was on sale, and when one reviewer on goodreads commented that it was like YA authors had a checklist of vampire fantasy (brooding vampire lover caught in a love triangle, living in the south, werewolves, etc.). Well, that's not telling me something I don't like, so I figured I would give it a try.

It did not disappoint. After the awful choice of Discovery of Witches, this was a delight. I found that I need a specific kind of book when I'm at work. I realize that I can't listen to books where I have to pay rapt attention too--I actually have to concentrate every so often, and it stinks if I have to replay what I heard because I was busy trying to figure out a problem.

However, this book, fluffy and silly, fits the profile. It's about a librarian, or well, an ex librarian by the name of Jane Jameson. She was let go from the public library, and decides to drown her sorrow at the local bar, where she meets Gabriel.

It's fantastic, because unlike Discovery of Witches, where Diana slowly turns into a drooling toddler with tits who has be led by the hand by M'estat, Jane openly makes fun of Gabriel but also digging him too. He tries to be the brooding mysterious vampire, but she gets more and more drunk, effectively making an ass out of herself. Though at this time, Jane doesn't know he's a brooding vampire, which makes it all the more charming.

She leaves her car and decides to walk home when she is mistaken for a deer and is shot. Gabriel saves her, effectively turning her into a vampire. And that's when the hilarity begins.

Women in prominent heroine roles with romantic interests in media, sometimes, well, most of the time, don't really make new female friends. Or really, make many friends at all. It might be just that sort of action adventure role where it impacts men as well, but with female empowerment, ditching the patriarchy and calling for more representation of diverse females in media, I really notice it when women don't have other female friends, make new female friends, or just talk about the men in their lives to their female friends.

Which is why Nice Girls is really refreshing. She's multifaceted--she underwent many life changes, snared a new beau but also, made several new friends with varying success. She's presented with a problem, messed a lot up but ultimately solved everything on her own. Jane also befriends both female and male alike, and though she's had a rough love life, she doesn't alienate her new friends for her vampire boyfriend, Gabriel.

Sure, is it eerily like the Sookie Stackhouse series? Yes, it is almost parallel to those books, except Jane Jameson isn't someone who is completely helpless. She makes a lot of mistakes, she makes fun of herself but she keeps on trying and learning. She's smart and wants to solve problems but like a person, she doesn't do it right the first time and doesn't get a guy to help her fix it. Sookie Stackhouse wasn't completely helpless either, but whereas Sookie was a waitress with no aspirations to be anything else (and that's fine), I identify with Jane because she went to school (two advanced degrees, get it girl) but her life veered off in a way that was unexpected, and she has to cobble together something after her transformation. Jane does so, after a few failed attempts at other jobs.

Boy do I relate.

The audiobook is a great listen and by definition the accent should be annoying, it really lends itself to the story. Give it a try, despite the terrible (but kind of growing on me) title.

Imago by Octavia E. Butler

It was like lightening struck when I realized I could buy audiobooks of my favorite sci-fi author, Octavia E. Butler when Audible did their 50% off sale.

I dutifully listened to the voice actor and concluded that she had a clear voice with no annoying quirks. It had been a while since I picked up a Butler book, and since she passed away in 2006, I wanted to stretch them out before they were all gone. Also, Butler's books are hardly ever on sale, audiobook or not, so 50% off sale was pretty sweet.
via GIPHY
I enjoyed the first two bookx of the Lilith's Brood Series, or the Xenogenesis series. The books are about an alien race that discovered Earth right when a major war unleashed nuclear bombs on a large part of the world, effectively killing off most, if not all, humans. The Oankali rescued many dying people, starting with Lillith and restored her to optimal health. However... there is a catch.

In order for the Oankali to survive, they must combine their species with that of humans, effectively creating a new species. The Oankali are perplexed to why the humans, Lilith included, want to do anything other than combine their genes with theirs, simply because they perceive their way of life to better, no sickness, violence and the drive to learn and continually educate themselves by traveling the stars.

Each book has a different perspective. First it's human, with the introduction of Lilith, then it's a male construct by the name of Akin, and finally, it's a human construct named Jodahs that turns into an ooloi, a third male/female gender that goes by the pronouns of "it."

Sooo.... at first when I read Dawn and Adulthood Rites, I thought they were entertaining and different and I was pleased that Butler continued to write good books. However, when I read reviews of the books, many critics pointed out about how hetero-normative both humans and Oankali are, and how Butler seems to ignore homosexual relationships as well as other aspects of gender and sex. So, with that in mind, I listened to the third book.

I was underwhelmed.

First of all, the voice actor blew. Hard. She was OK when she was simply talking in her own voice, but then, she dropped her voice to talk in Jodah's voice (when he had dialogue with others), which had me adjusting my volume as I worked constantly. Then she had a completely different voices for other characters, and all of them were grating and annoying. By the end of it, I hoped that all the characters died horrible deaths.

Speaking of the end of the book... it was very anticlimactic. I thought Butler was leading the reader somewhere, and then she makes a left hand turn out of nowhere to make sure that all the characters essentially get what they want.

 I thought overall, this book was the weakest of trilogy. Dawn and Adulthood Rites was so exciting to read with Butler's philosophical musings of the purpose of humankind without it being preachy or even knowing that Butler is exploring what it means to be human. However, Imago just seems to be an afterthought. It's a natural progression to shift the perspective from different people who are affected by this alien invasion, but... Imago wasn't very interesting. It didn't have interesting characters or a very interesting plot.

I have Wild Seed on the dock and I hope this audiobook is good and her audiobooks aren't inherently bad.

Calling the Reaper by Jason Pere

Full Disclosure: This book was given to me by Rambunctious Ramblings Publishing, Inc. in exchange for an honest review. I can't be too hard on an author who only self-published before signing with a fledgling publishing company. I admire authors like this, because eventually I would like to finish writing and publish myself. I also can't be too tough on these sorts of authors either, because I feel they are still rough around the edges and they need to go through rounds of polishing before they find their stride.

Calling the Reaper is a book with a lot of good ideas, and Pere attempts to go about it in a unique way. It's clearly the start of a series and the book introduces the reader to a set of characters that meet their demise. Sometimes in noble ways, but most often in committing in one of the 7 deadly sins. With each "Part" or set of stories, there are excerpts of letters, various quotes and sayings of individuals that make up Purgatory or the underworld and the suggestion that something big is about to happen. 

Pere's world building surrounding Purgatory almost takes a backseat in this novel. He uses well known characters, such as the 4 Horsemen, and for quotes and sermons he uses to illustrate Purgatory are from books simply title 'The Book of Life." You know something is coming, and a war is brewing, but Pere wants you to focus on the characters that the Reaper takes in order to pull back the curtain later on. It's important to really understand the characters and how they died before venturing into the world. 

Pere pulls a GRRM. He throws a ton of characters at you. I could have done without the Parts, but I understand the need for consistency, especially when time would elapse within a character's timeline. I'm not sure how else I would have organized the characters' stories, nevertheless. Maybe tighten them to individual stories and titled them without the Parts? 

However, Pere's greatest strength, sneaking in world building between the Parts of the characters' stories along with grabbing the reader by the collar to venture into his world through the eyes of his characters, is also his greatest weakness.

He doesn't quite master forging the connection between character and reader. It would have been beneficial to restructure the book in a different way and possibly divided the book into two. Expand on half the characters, keep their small stories and show the start of their journey in Purgatory. The second book would reveal the other half of the characters, and the start of their journey into Purgatory.

The overarching theme of warriors meeting their end due to the demonstration of a deadly sin would have been enhanced if different cultural backgrounds were used. We as a culture are fascinated with Samurais, knights, cowboys, Romans and Vikings and personally, I feel oversaturated. I felt like these stories could have that extra bit of spice and uniqueness if different tribes and cultures were used. Zulu nation and Maoris are also proud warrior societies and I'm sure with some alterations, I would have found it riveting.

Finally, because I review books through a feminist lens... only 2 women?! Come on, Pere! You can do better than that! Unless you had plans already to bring in more interesting women (note: I said interesting, and not just "strong"), that is something you need to pay attention to in the future.

One last thing. I don't claim to be the best writer in the world. I'm sure my blog is riddled with spelling and grammar mistakes, but RRPI needs to have a copy editor, or even a few people that haven't read the book who come in and check for spelling errors. The amount of spelling mistakes in this book is unacceptable. Money is spent on the cover and printing the books and thus far, it reeks with unprofessionalism, which I'm sure is not what the company wants.
via GIPHY
Overall, it was a decent read and I'm curious to read the next book in the series. I think this is a great start for Pere and he has the makings of a great writer. 

End of the Year Top Authors

Ok, so I know I said that I would do Top 5 books of the year, but the problem with that is that though I've took the time to read and review a lot on my blog (and get into the habit of posting on a regular basis), I've read books that sort of did double duty. I reviewed a lot on my blog that I used for my lesson plans and though they are good literary novels, I'm not sure I would rank it as one of my top books of this year.

As I reviewed my past posts, a few books, but most importantly, 2 authors caught my eye that I thought were very noteworthy and I'm so glad that I discovered them this year. In order to be genuine to this blog and most importantly, to myself, I thought I would discuss both of them instead of arbitrarily listing 5 books that I sort of liked.

2. Sherman Alexie

I discovered this author last year when my co-teacher assigned one of his books for her American Literature class. I've read 2 books by him, and I would like to read more when I get the chance. The first book I read by him is Reservation Blues, a book I acquired when a teacher retired at the end of June. I enjoy Alexie's voice and his style. He's a realist, with humor, depression, alcoholism and poverty all rolled into life on the Reservation. He shows the decline of the characters in the book with such gentleness, and also handles the plight of their circumstance due to systematic racism with the same sort of factual gentleness.

My husband has a copy of The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and I read that one next. Even though he uses some of the same characters from Reservation in The Lone Ranger (or really, he uses characters from The Lone Ranger in Reservation), it's not overdone. They are familiar faces in much of the same circumstances. The Lone Ranger are a bunch of short stories about life on the Reservation, with folklore and mythology thrown in. It was his first book published, and I can't wait to read his other books next.

1. Octavia Butler

I think one of the reasons I enjoyed my last 3 months as an English teacher was because of this book. My husband taught this book to his 9th graders at the beginning of the year, and when I was struggling to rewrite my curriculum for the second half of the year, he suggested this book to me. Butler's writing is just phenomenal and Kindred, a stand alone book, is wonderful as it is horrifying. It allows a fresh take on the Antebellum South, as if it were if someone of color traveled back in time. This slave narrative really hits home for what actual slavery was like, and what our country was built from. Like Alexie, Butler also discusses racism but shows it through the lens of Kevin and Dana, an interracial couple in the 1970s.

I then read some of her other books, such as Parable of the Sower, Dawn and Adulthood Rites. I love her weird science fiction, and even more importantly, I love the diversity of her characters. The books that I've read so far have a majority of strong, female characters and they feel genuine because they are treated like people who make mistakes but ultimately power through.

However, unlike Alexie's books, Butler's books are finite. I look forward to reading them, but I dread the day when I read her last one.

These two authors really affected my literature and novel choices this year. Their gifts with words and their insight, whether it's folklore on the Spokane Reservation mixed in with realism and fiction or it's a science fiction story about the future of the world in the lens of a woman of color, has stayed with me.

What authors did you really enjoy this year? What authors did you discover? Comment below, or tweet me!

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick

Alright, even though I consider myself an avid science fiction reader, I really didn't know much about Philip K Dick. When the Man in the High Castle show was advertised on youtube to premier on Amazon, I was super excited.... and unaware that it was a book before. My darling husband informed me that this was the same author who wrote the book that inspired Blade Runner with Harrison Ford. 

Always finding opportunities to review book and then make the ultimate comparison, I hurriedly bought the book and dove into reading it before the premier of the show. Now, Amazon released the first 2 episodes of Man in the High Castle in their competition with Netflix and AKA Jessica Jones and I loved it! I was really excited to read the book and see the differences and similarities. PKD wrote tons of books and I think a few more were made into movies. 

The book was written in the 1960s, 20 years after the end of WWII. PKD took that concept and flipped it on it's head. He changed the outcome and posed the question, 'how would the world look if Germany and Japan won the war?' However, his focus wasn't on world building, or setting up a straight protagonist to uncover the truth... or have a traditional plot of any sort. He creates a few characters and uses them to view Americanism if the Allies had not won WWII. What is America if Germany and Japan won the war? 

I think it's a really cool concept and the parts where he discusses (casually through dialogue and inner thought monologues) how the word has changed (Nazis have dried out the Mediterranean, brutally conquered Africa and built rocket ships to Mars for instance) and it was easily the most fascinating parts of the book. However, I found myself waiting to get to the exciting plot points and I found myself frustrated when PKD focused on Childan and Tagomi (for most of the book, until the exciting parts where they discovered parts of themselves and revealed their true character in times of crisis) but up until then, I found myself rolling my eyes and using the "hurry up" gesture when I read their portions. 

The character Juliana, I feel, was used to drive the ultimate story to completion and doesn't stand alone as a character. She stumbles, like Tagomi, onto the book within the book, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, where the plot of that book is our timeline and the Allies won the war. At first, other characters view Juliana through their lens (Joe Cinnadella, Frank Frink) and have some very anti woman thoughts about her. They view her as sort of a manic pixie dream girl. She's unstable, quirky, unable to guide her own life and exist for the purpose of men. Despite their thoughts about her, they are still drawn towards her and still are incredibly attracted to her. 

PKD then introduce her own POV, and it seems like what other people perceive of her is actually true. She is aimless, unstable and casual. She relies on Joe, who reveals himself to not be an Italian truck driver, to give her a good time, and goes off with him to a strange place to meet the author of the book. Then there is a switch, or a few switches that happen, Juliana falls apart, and then Juliana, after her conversation with Abelson, becomes cool and calm. I'm not sure if her character development is more realistic, or less. It felt to me that Juliana's decisions was based on what PKD needed to finish the story, not because it was genuine to her character development. 

I think this book is good for those that enjoy exploring those philosophical questions of the "What If?" I also enjoy those "What If?" questions, but I feel like I would have enjoyed this book more if there was much more direction. I also wanted to find out more of what the Nazis, and the Japanese did after the war. How did the world look? I wanted to see exactly how they eradicated Africa and exterminated all the Jews in the world. I wanted to read about the new world order, and maybe a deeper insight of how the changeover of the Third Reich would happen, and more political drama instead of the Baynes and Yatabe secret meeting and fall out. 

It's probably me being a book series supporter, but the kind of information, and the wealth of world building potential in this book would look great as a book series. Maybe each person has their own book? Maybe each book takes on someone new stationed in a place, like Africa, or even on a rocket ship to Mars, and discusses the implications of that life? That maybe the book, Grasshopper Lies Heavy is found, they read it, and go on their own journey of discovery? 

I'm excited to see where they take the show. I'm not sure if I will read another PKD book, but then again, I did watch Blade Runner. 

Which is better? Ender's Game

So, like most books I've stumbled across in this blog, I nabbed Ender's Game by Olson Scott Card from the Independence School book closet last summer. I've heard about Ender's Game from many people over the years, praising the book as a must read for science fiction. Getting the opportunity to read the book (for free), I decided to take it on as a summer reading project. This was before I knew about Card's beliefs against homosexuality, gay rights and gay marriage, though I believe it was made more apparent as the countdown began with the movie's release.

The movie was released 2 years ago. My co-teacher and I assigned Ender's Game as an extra credit project for 10th grade English and we were both a little worried they would watch the movie and not read the book. Well, we didn't have to worry too much because none of them did it anyway!

I wanted to first start off with my impression and attitude toward the book, in spite of Card's strong advocacy against gay people, is that the book is insightful and thought provoking and is about the atrocities of war, and of young men fighting the old men war. Ender's journey is the hero's journey, with a twist (and a few prequels and sequels). I'm surprised by Card's stance on homosexuality and gay marriage because Ender's Game seems to be a book about inclusiveness and misunderstandings. Upon reading many reviews and articles about Card, he has also turned into a conspiracy theorist (though he's not a racist, which... I guess is good? Why a social justice warrior for one cause and not all others?)

Now, onto the movie. I will say, the movie does a good job of adapting 1st person perspective. I felt like the movie does really good highlights of what the book was about and touches on the main points without sacrificing much of the story. The viewer understands his loneliness and isolation through scenes with other characters and how they treat him. The viewer gets how smart he is through his actions, and the movie does a pretty good job of showing, not telling, the society and the desperation they all feel to defeat the aliens. They show highlights of his journey through battle school and command school, up to his final war game with the Formics and his friends.

Whereas I believed most of the actors in the movie, (Harrison Ford just seems to be collecting a paycheck, I feel) and I felt like Ender could really kick anyone's ass who crossed him, I felt like there was a lot missing from the movie. I'm not sure how it would have been remedied, but though there were scenes where you see Ender be sensitive and empathic with strong ties to his sister, I felt like the final impact of realizing that the Formics couldn't orally communicate didn't really come across. It happened in the book through the game and through his exploration of the game, which was lost in the movie.

I also understand there was a big difference in technology between when the book was written and when the movie was filmed. When I read the book, I envision the kids playing video games and playing the war games in a literal video game (like N64). In the movie, though some of them seemed to be using consols and sitting at like arcade games, Ender was looking a full size screen which looked like a legit camera to zoom in on the actual fighting. To me, it didn't seem like there was much of a separation there between the game and the actual fighting.

Even though the movie wasn't bad and I enjoyed watching it (there was a great cast assembled, Harrison Ford included), I feel like reading the book adds more dimensions to politics and war that is not seen in the movie. The movie also left out the political side of the book, which is an another part to war with Valentina and Peter, Ender's siblings.

Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer

I was right. I didn't really need to read The Eternity Code between The Artic Incident and The Opal Deception. Conveniently, Artemis' mind was wiped from the events that occurred in the 3rd book and one of the plot points was remembering what happened during that adventure. It appears that each Artemis Fowl book operates as a stand alone book, which is just smart marketing in case readers like me can't be bothered to obtain the books in order.

The backstory for this book is just like the other one: it was 1 dollar from the book fair. The next book fair is in September, I think, and BAE and I are already talking about it. I wonder what prizes I will find! Will books by my girl PG be there? Who knows? Ok, back to Artemis Fowl.

I think if I had started reading this books when I was 10 or 11, I would have totally dug them and maybe even fashioned myself an evil genius (that eventually turns good) just like Artemis Fowl. His name is even cool. Sure, Jordan is mythological (excuse me, biblical) and androgynous but Artemis is so badass. Jordan is just a name of a river. Although famous (pretty heavy hitters were baptized in the Jordan River), it is also apparently a dirty river. Artemis is named after a fierce huntress!

Ok, back to the actual story. As it is, I read them while I'm in my late 20s. I keep in mind that they were written for kids much younger than me (and actually I'll probably be teaching the appropriate age group this fall). It's a unique concept and it celebrates the idea of a boy using his intellect to solve problems. What is also powerful about this book is that Artemis actually thinks. He brainstorms more than one plan and then after analyzing them, chooses the one that will be the most successful. Artemis Fowl takes his time, and knows that intelligence doesn't actually mean quickness. Being super smart doesn't necessarily mean that one gets the right answer immediately.

It's a powerful concept to learn and more students, especially those who struggle with academics, could stand to read about someone like Artemis Fowl. Sure, it's science fiction, but what is great about science fiction is that it's often much more based in the human condition than fiction is. Science Fiction dreams up powerful high technology and different species, but ultimately goes back to how the human race reacts to these themes.

Artemis Fowl is an optimistic focal point of the human race. Eoin Colfer shows intense character development with Fowl. He starts off the series as the books' anti-hero. He faces off with The People in order to obtain some fairy gold. Then in the next book and sequential books, he develops a relationship with Holly Short and becomes the series protagonist. After doing some research on the Fowl books, he actually goes back in time to deal with his younger, more evil half in order to save his mother. He's actually going back in time to right the wrongs he committed when he was an angry, lost boy.

Development. Stephanie Myers could stand to learn something. I kid, but not really.

I even like the series' villain, Opal Kobai. There are a lot of geniuses in this book series, and all of them work extremely hard and are extremely ambitious, in their own way, in order to be the greatest.

Now onto the book itself. I realized that because it's a YA book, and maybe even a bit younger than YA, it's not geared towards me. The book takes me a bit to get into. I found myself only wanting to read a few pages a night, which is a sign that I am not into what I'm reading. Thank goodness for this blog, my leaning tower book stack and my moving, right? Who knows when I would have been done this book?

I'm not interested in fantastical high technology and heist narrative but unfortunately, most of this book was centered on side quests before getting to the real thing, which is defeating Opal. I love Holly and Artemis' banter, which was lacking until Fowl regained his memories.

Many characters made a reappearance, including Butler and Mulch. Julius Root unfortunately sails off into the night, and I commend Colfer in dealing with death with such a "young crowd." Characters also cease to develop without major changes in their lives, including death.

Overall, a solid read. I wish I found these books when I was younger, but I'll settle for 1 dollar at used book fairs.

Moving and the Current Book Stack

So, Bae and I are in the process of buying a house! Yay!  Along with everything else (paperwork, inspections, etc.) we also have to pack (boo, hiss). As a self diagnosing hoarder (I'm not really, but you never know when you need something), moving is a good thing for me. I get to go through my stuff and envision myself moving it. If it's worth the moving part, it stays. If not, then it definitely goes.

Which brings me to books. When I was younger, I dreamt about having a library. The library in Disney's Beauty and The Beast? Yeah, I definitely didn't care for the love story. I wanted those BOOKS! When I lived at home, I started collecting books, because well, I wanted to start my own library! This proved to be a terrible idea when I moved out, because I had to actually move all of those books. In those 6 years, I've had to move 5 times; almost every single year since I moved out.

Things have definitely been donated, trashed and given away. As BAE and I stare down the prospect of moving into a permanent home (5 years, anyway) with the idea of adult things like nicer furniture and durable picture frames, we're going to have to be ruthless about what we choose to get rid of versus what we keep.

And that includes books.

BAE is an English teacher, and we have so many doubles of the same books. As I was going through my books today, I realized that there were 2 copies of Schindler's List. I knew about Corrections and Catch-22, but Schindler's List was news to me. So, that's an issue.

Before going to the gym, I perused my shelves to donate books to goodwill. Some of them were easy; older books, books I didn't really enjoy and books that were given to me by people I rather not remember. However, embarrassingly enough, I stumbled across MANY books that I actually bought but never read. Some of them I simply stuck on my shelf and forgot about, and others.... I think there was a point in my life where I bought books because I thought I should buy them... and it would make me look smart to have them on my shelf.

I apologize to anyone and everyone that ever helped me move. You moved books that I bought that I thought made me look smart.

So, I have about a month before I move. There are definitely books I know I will read. However, those books that I completely forgot about and never read, I plucked them off my shelf and put them in my book stack. I bought them, so I am GOING to read them.

Look at that enormous stack of books. That is such a weird mix of books. I have some history, some manga (Korean Manga, mind you), some classic literature, some unknown fantasy and finally... religion. Man, my religion minor really paid off... because now I am reading those books. 

Ok! Off we go! 

Parables of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

Oh Octavia Butler, you're magnificent. This is another book from BAE, so there isn't a story to how I acquired it. Parables of the Sower is the first book Butler ever published. I thought I read somewhere that it was a book she began as a child and then finished it when she was order for publication. However, I cannot find the source now, so it's possible I made it all up.

The reason I mention that is that the story of Parable of the Sower is an adult version of those action stories you read as a kid, like Hatchet or My Side of the Mountain, where the teenager or adolescent is stranded and they have to survive on their own with only a survival backpack and their gumption. The main character go on a journey to get them out of the wilderness or they make a plan to survive in a new, wild place. I, myself, would often daydream about what it would be like to survive on my own.

SIDESTORY: I actually ran away once to try that. I think my mother and I got into a fight, and I packed my stuff and left. I made it out into the woods by my house (they actually filmed Tuck Everlasting, btw, so it's beautiful), but then I was afraid and hungry, so I went home. I got into a lot of trouble. I also think I stopped my day dreams of living out in the woods after that day.

Ok, back to the review. Parable of the Sower is an adult version of the adventure story littered with sex, drugs and though I wish I could say rock n' roll, violence. Butler is a mastermind at revealing a potential future that we're staring in the face of. Parable of the Sower is set in 2026, which might be a long way off when she wrote the book in 1993, but it's only 11 years down the line. I think that, more than anything, scared me the most. It also scares me because of how Butler writes the characters surrounding the main character. They are in denial about the catastrophic changes in their lives and they hope it will get better, or ignore the increasing amount of struggle outside of their quiet four walls.

The main character's name is Lauren. She is a the daughter of a preacher and she lives in a "gated" community with 10 or so other families. She has a step-mother and 3 younger brothers. The book is set up as a journal first person. Everything that happens, occurs after the fact when Lauren writes it down.

Her "gated" community was self-imposed by the families that live in the cul-de-sac. They put up the walls to keep the homeless, the druggies and the criminals from entering their homes. It's dangerous to go outside of the walls. It is incredibly hard to get a job, and her father, a professor at the university, goes outside of the wall a few times a week to teach. Many people are killed when they go outside.

Lauren, in the first half of the book, describes her daily life, and her complex relationships with her father, step-mother, brothers and the other members of the microsociety she lives with. The threat of the outside world is always a factor, and when a company goes into a similar city to provide jobs with room and board, many families are interested in taking it, no matter the risks and the cost of having a job.

This book is complex and it's so well written that it's hard to unpack the book while not giving much away. A gentle buzz in the background of the book that slowly makes it way front and center at the end of the book is Lauren's Earthseed. It's a new type of religion, though Lauren maintains that it is a way of life. Christianity, her father's religion, doesn't serve her needs and the changing needs of the world in which they live in. Christianity, she feels, does not give her a chance to survive in a violent world.

One final thing about the book worth mentioning (though the entire book is worth mentioning) is Lauren's hyperempathy. Caused by a drug called, I think, Pyro? Pyco? which contributes to much of the decay of American society, Lauren's mother was addicted to it, which gave Lauren something called, "hyperempathy." She feels other's pain or other's pleasure, to mixed results. It becomes evident to why she hides in as the book continues, but it makes for some interesting choices when it comes to people she meets and who she discloses his information too.

Ms. Butler is heads and shoulders above most other science fiction and fantasy I read now and days. Its a shame that she wasn't as famous (maybe she didn't want to be) or that none of her books were ever turned into movies (maybe she didn't want them to be). I'm currently reading Kindred in class, and most of the students are into the novel. Those that aren't into the book aren't much into anything, however. I can't wait to read Parable of the Talent, the second and final book in this series. Apparently she planned to write a 3rd novel, called Parables of the Trickster, but writer's block prevented her from finishing. Her writings are on display at Huntington Library (Indiana).

Princess of Mars by Edger Rice Burroughs

So I originally watched "John Carter of Mars" starring Tim Riggins first, which is the only way I knew to pick up the series at Barnes and Nobles. The first book is titled, "Princess of Mars" and it is the first installment of the series "John Carter of Mars" by E.R.B. Apparently this is part of the pulp fiction movement in the 1960s.

John Carter is a confederate soldier, who after the war, ventured to Arizona to mine for gold. His associate travels back to the town to get supplies, but when John watches him leave, he notices other "spots" in the distance where his partner is traveling too. At first he leaves it be, but his guts propels him to go after his associate. He finds his associate dead and himself surrounded by Apache Indians. He runs away, finds a cave and hides.

Something, like an invisible force, comes over him and he is transported to Mars, or as the Green and Red men of Mars call it, Barsoom. It is a dying planet (mysterious machines provides the atmosphere), and Green men and Red men are all at war with each other.

John discovers that he can jump higher and hit harder due to the gravity on Mars, or, I'm sorry, on Barsoom. The Green men find him in an incubator full of just hatched Green babies, and takes him back to the Tharks.

Carter quickly rises from a prisoner to a chieftain after he demonstrates his prowess to the horde of Green men. He kills a few Green men, and he earns "metal" and titles. However, things abruptly changes when the Tharks shoot down the ships of Helium, and they capture the Princess of Helium, Dejah Thoris.

John Carter falls into, what do my students call it? A thirst trap. Dejah is also thirsty for Mr. Carter.

Ah, after looking up "thirst trap" in urban dictionary, I don't think I used "thirst trap" correctly. Ah well. Let's just say they are both single and ready to mingle. More action, more running around, and finally, every one ends up with their happy ending... until Edger Rice Burroughs realized that he should write more "Of Mars" books and get more money.

The first book in the John Carter of Mars series isn't the worst thing I ever read. One can definitely tell it was written in the 1960s, because there is some racist shit in there (where, you know, as of now, it's just subliminal racism so that white people can't pick up on it). First of all, John Carter is a confederate soldier. I wouldn't be so alarmed by this fact except Burroughs also threw in there that he was a Virginia Gentleman and that when he went to visit his relatives, everyone adored him and the slaves worshipped him. 

Uh, what? He doesn't go that far to say that Carter owned slaves himself, but having slaves worship the guy as an example to show how awesome he is some racist shit.

THEN, when Carter is in the desert, Burroughs proceeds to characterized the Indians as "Braves" and to also revisit how violent they all were. When Carter escapes up the mountain into the cave, the Native Americans followed him. John Carter is held still on the ground by an invisible entity, and when the Natives venture into the cave, something scares them off.

Now, it could have been a huge scary monster and it would be natural for anyone to run away, but... Burroughs described it as some dumb brown person who wasn't brave enough to seek what was in the cave. Some more racist shit.

There is some sexist shit in that book too. There are two prominent women in the book: Sola and Dejah. Dejah is legit naked when John first meets her, except for the metal she is wearing covering her naughty bits. Sola, who grows up in a different way than the rest of the Tharks and is an outcast, is meek and loyal. Dejah and Sola need to be commanded for much of the book, and every time one of them makes a decision that is apart from John, John has to save them.

Finally, John Carter of Mars is the white motherfucking savior of both the Green and Red men of Barsoom. He teaches the Green men new fighting skills, how to tame animals (yes, really) and above all, about friendship (you read that right).

He ends the war between Red and Green men, and he gets the Princess in the end and becomes a Prince. He is highly regarded and in every scenario he is in, he figures a way out and saves the day.

I was bothered by the blatant racism, sexism and white male savior parts of the book. I did buy the entire series (don't worry, for a small price), so I will chug on to read the rest of the novels. I would invent a drinking game with how many racist things Burroughs wedges in there and how many times Carter bestows his superior whiteness over all others, but I'll be stinking drunk every night I read before going to bed.

Kindred By Octavia E. Butler

Octavia E. Butler was introduced to me by my fiance earlier in the school year. He is also an English teacher, and it was the first book he was teaching to his co-taught 9th grade classes. I read about Octavia E. Butler before but I had a stack of books to get through first before I could go on the exciting adventures with her.

BTW, I will probably always have a stack of books to get through. Now it's a different stack of books with her books intermingled. 

SIDE STORY FIRST. This year was the first year I taught 9th grade English. I am a special educator for high school, and I haven't taught my own classes since student teaching. Desperate to teach and have control over how skills are taught, I agreed to teach English 9. Let's just say it has been a rough year. The second rough year out of the 3 years I've almost taught.. but that's another long winded rant for another time. ANYHOO. At first I wanted to teach Romeo and Juliet, but when my baby 9th graders stated that they read that play in 8th grade (seriously. I don't think I would have passed 8th grade if we read Shakespeare. I think that says more about my maturity as an 8th grader than the intelligence of middle schoolers). So, coupled with the fact that they already read it and my general "fuck it" attitude that came with a rough school year, I decided to teach Kindred. 

But first, I had to actually read Kindred. 

So, I purchased the book off of Amazon (I know. It was infuriating that I couldn't find used books of hers at the book fair. However, I like to think that everyone is so in love with her books that no one wanted to part with them, unlike Anne Rice, whose books are in multiples at the book fair.) 

I finished the book in 2 days. It. Was. Awesome. 

Set in the 1970s, it is about a woman named Dana who suddenly possesses the power to travel back in time. She doesn't know how she acquired this ability and you never find out. Butler doesn't take the time to explain it. She doesn't need too. Dana is a riveting character who finds herself by a body of water where a woman is crying for help. A boy is drowning and she rushes in and saves him. After rescuing the boy, a shot gun is in her face and she is transported back to the present day. 

You come to find out that Dana is only transported when Rufus, the boy that almost drowned in the river, is in life threatening trouble. Rufus is one of Dana's ancestors, but the twist is that while Dana is an African-American, Rufus is a slave owner in the antebellum south. Dana realizes that she is charged with keeping Rufus alive until her ancestor, Hagar is born. 

As a white female, there is an abundance of characters that at least, look like me (which, white privilege.. I guess, yay?) However, there isn't an abundance of well rounded female character that actually has a story arc, is strong but makes mistakes as well. You know, like an actual person. Dana is an actual person and I love Butler for this. 

Normally, I'm into book series because I love to just travel the world that the author created. Kindred is a stand alone book and it does wonderfully as a stand alone book. Butler does a great job of showing the end in sight but makes the reader wonder if Dana will ever survive the ordeal. At the end of this book, I am relieved that there won't be others, simply because of Dana's and her husband, Kevin's, suffering. Kindred's setting is horrifying. I don't want to explore it further. 

Kindred is a great read. It's historical science fiction that zeroes in on the African American experience. YES. PLEASE. 

The Wind Up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

I picked this book up at the, you guessed it, at the Baltimore Book Fair. I picked it up purely on the cover art. It looked pretty neat, and I thought the title, The Wind Up Girl, was unique. What could this book possibly be about? 

When choosing books, I usually gravitate towards historical fiction, science fiction and fantasy. Many times, it's a combination of genres, like mystery-fantasy or mystery historical fiction. Usually my tastes are never purely science fiction. This topic, "biopunk," as I researched the background of this book, is something different than what I'm used to reading. It's real science fiction, ya know?

The story follows 3-5 individuals who reside in the Thai kingdom. Due to global warming, the land is sinking, but keeps it at bay with levees. Instead of gas and coal, food is the currency, and epidemics of all sorts are a moment away. 

The main characters are a white man by the name of Anderson, and Emiko, a "wind up" girl. Anderson works for a calorie company and is undercover to seek out new foodstuff for his company. He works in a factory where these big elephant type things called mega.... something, are the only things big enough to control the machines who create energy. There is some deal with Algae that infect the other characters later in the book and cause chaos in the factory. 

Emiko is a "wind up," a non-human made for the pleasures of humans. They are sex slaves, they are toys and they are soldiers. After her former owner left her in Thailand, she goes to work for a strip club (I think it's sex performance art), and there are a few graphic chapters where Emiko is forced to do things against her will. She hates it, but she is also programmed to enjoy it too. 

Ok, CONFESSION TIME. 

I read the book, but I have to tell you that as soon as I put it down, I didn't remember half the stuff that happened. So, I went on good reads to read up on it again, and became intimidated by the reviewers who put a whole heck of a lot of thought into reviewing The Wind Up Girl, with bold essential questions and themes... 

I'm into that, but you know, not reallll into that. I did not think about any of that when I read the book. The only character I thought was interesting was Emiko and I was worried how she was going to get out of this messed up situation that was Thailand. There is a lot of political drama going on, and one of the other characters dies in the book after the government broke their promise to him. I don't remember their names but I appreciated that Bacigalupi used political corruption in many parts of the world as inspiration.  

Anyway, politics change in Thailand in a huge way, and people are violently killing each other. Anderson, who I should give two shits about, but don't care about at all, wants to find the seeds in order to keep his job as a Calorie man at this mega corporation, in you guess it, America. Emiko clings to Anderson for dear life because she knows that Anderson is her way out of the mess her past owner left her in. 

To quote Star Wars (the few quotes I know), Bacigalupi's social commentary is "strong with this one." Bacigalupi's futuristic, dystopian society is practically dripping with what he thinks our culture is turning into. 

I like my books to be easy reads and engaging. (Which I guess doesn't make me a very good English teacher). I think The Wind Up Girl had a lot to say about the future of our world and how we need to get our act together or else, buuuutttttt...... it was hard to follow for me. I don't know if it was the Asian politics, or the idea of foodstuff and calories, or the epidemics, or even the diversity of characters, but it was a tough book to read right before going to bed. 

I may give it another try again the future. You know, if I run out of books to read. 

Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer

I missed the Artemis Fowl YA books when I was growing up, but my best friend Capella, loved them. My mother mostly brought me series books like The Babysitters Club, The Boxcar Kids and Goosebumps. I also read the Animorphs series too. Though now that I think about it, I guess Artemis Fowl is a bit older than those series.

Anyway, I didn't read them. However, when I was looking for a book to read several years ago, the first Artemis Fowl book was on sale in the Sony E-reader store (RIP). So I bought it and liked it. I didn't LOVE it, maybe it was because it's a bit younger than YA, but I liked it.

Like I do, I found a few Artemis Fowl books at the Baltimore Book Fair (seriously, they should pay me with all the advertising I do for that fair) after failing to find any Octavia Butler books. I had no idea if they were in sequence or not, (I mean, it's YA, I'm sure I could figure out) but luck would have it, Arctic Incident is the second book in the series.

The idea is that Artemis Fowl is a young evil genius with lots of money at his disposal. There is also a fairy universe that hates him. He has a bodyguard and his arch nemesis is a fairy named Holly Short who is a fairy cop. The first book is all about Artemis Fowl obtaining fairy gold. Holly Short and the entire Fairy universe (I really want to write underverse a la Riddick style) are trying to stop him. He ends up getting the fairy gold fair and square.

The scenario for the second book is that Artemis Fowl is looking for his father, who went missing in action. Artemis procures the help of Holly Short and company, and go on this search to find him. Oh, there is also a fairy villain, but I don't remember this name or who he works with. There is lots of technology and adventure. There is also the Russian Mob and Goblins.

By far, the most interesting character in the book is Fowl's manservant, Butler. A killing machine with a shady past that has an undying devotion towards his charge. He is unstoppable. In my mind, he changes from a tough bald headed hottie to a dark haired mysterious type. He puts Fowl in his place, which the kid clearly needs. Artemis Fowl is way to smart for his own good and desperately needs some boundaries. I mean, really, why hasn't his super rich school call CPS? How has his mother been able to keep custody of him?

Yes, that is what I took away from Artemis Fowl: where the heck are his parents?

So overall, it's a decent book for young adults ages 10-13. I have another book that I acquired from the book fair, but I don't think it's the next book in series (but who cares).