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Audiobook Review: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

March 12, 2013

I know, I am way behind the times on this book. The plot is simple with so many delicious layers. We have three narrators: Aibileen Clark, Minnie Jackson, and Skeeter Phelan. The story is set in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi.

Aibileen is a maid, currently working for Elizabeth Leefolt. She has worked for many families over the years, tending to work only for family with small children. Once the children grow to a certain age (she alludes to the time which they start treating her like a black woman), she moves on to the next family. Elizabeth is completely unable to relate to her child Mae Mobley. It breaks Aibileen's heart that the 2 year old is barely touched by her mother.

Skeeter is a childhood friend of Elizabeth. Skeeter comes over once a week to play bridge. As the book opens, Hilly - another childhood friend of both Skeeter and Elizabeth; also, a bit of a queen bee - tells Elizabeth that she simply must install a separate bathroom for Aibileen, due to the "colored diseases" that she carries. Skeeter is taken aback my this, though in 1962 Jackson, it does not behoove her to voice her qualms in this situation. Later in the kitchen, Skeeter asks Aibileen if she ever wishes that things were different. This thought plagues Aibileen.

Skeeter, a young writer, accepts a job at the local newspaper which allows her to develop a relationship with Aibileen by asking for her expertise on cleaning to write the weekly Miss Myrna column. Skeeter eventually asks Aibileen if she would be interested in being interviewed for a book that Skeeter is writing about the black maids who work for white families in the South. Aibileen is terrified to be part of this. She knows the rules of what she, as a black Southern woman can do, if she works on this with Miss Skeeter, it could cost her job, her home, and possibly her life. After Hilly embarrasses Aibileen in a specifically foul way, Aibileen agrees to work with Skeeter.

Minnie is a tougher nut to crack. She is friends with Aibileen. She has recently been fired after refusing to work for Hilly. Minnie hates Hilly and has no intention to work for her. However, Hilly's pull in society makes Minnie's job prospects dismal. Aibileen is able to find Minnie a job with Celia Foote, a poor girl who married rich and is desperately trying to make her way in this society. The relationship with Minnie and Celia is hilarious and charming.

My original thoughts… I really thought it would be a silly book. I do have a bit of fear of very popular books - is it hype or talent? This was talent. The audiobook was amazing. It brought the story to life for me. It was more like listening to a play, than an audiobook. If you are looking for an introductory audiobook, I highly suggest The Help. If you have read The Help, I think its still worth the listen.

Book Review: My Brother's Book by Maurice Sendak

March 9, 2013

When I heard of Maurice Sendak's death in 2012, I was mostly unfazed. I really didn't know much about him. I remember, Where the Wild Things Are fondly enough … however, it was too long ago to invoke much emotion.

Then I listed to his final interview with Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air. What I heard was a lovely, old man with so much sorrow in his heart. Sendak expressed his sorrow for the people in his life who have passed on and how he was glad that he would go before Terry, so that he wouldn't have to miss her. The sweetness of him made me cry.

My Brother's Book is the final book written by Sendak. It is filled with a longing. Though,he was a devout atheist -- to his dying day --and did not believe in an afterlife, this book expresses a deep desire to be with the ones he loved. The brother of this book, Jack, is the characterization of Sendak's brother of the same name.

I believe differently than Sendak, I am not an atheist. I'm a aww-who-the-hell-knows-ist, so when Guy (the second brother - and representation of Sendak himself)finds peace with Jack. My heart is glad. I hope that Sendak has found that same peace.

Now, let us dry our eyes and let the wild rumpus begin.

Book Review: There Once Lived A Girl Who Seduced Her Sister's Husband, And He Hanged Himself: Love Stories by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya

March 2, 2013

Set in Russia, Petrushevskaya's stories are presented in a very basic, raw story telling fashion. They rarely are told in first person, one story which was told in first person skipped back and forth between "I" and "her". Some stories hold too much cultural relevance for me to truly understand, I felt lost at times. There was beauty in the words, some touched me with an icy finger down my spine. However, these moments were few and far between. Each story, even those in the section "A Happy Ending" were incredibly dark and depressing. The living situations are awful, in the introduction the translator, Anna Summers, expresses that these are realistic conditions. The characters are dreadful. The men cads. The women hopeless. Anna also says of Petrushevskaya's writing style, "her steadfast refusal to save her characters, or her readers, from themselves."

I would not suggest this for the general reader. If you have an interest in Russia, then yes, but, to be honest, I really don't know enough about the conditions of this country to understand what is accurate in this book.

I have very mixed feelings. It was painful to read... though, I see that this author has a book of fairy tales. Russian fairy tales... now that's intriguing.

My favorite quotes:
"There once lived a girl who was beloved by her mother but no one else. "

"It was like a temporary suicide, he thought, a thing that everyone desires at some point - to step out for a while, then come back to see what happened."

Book Review: Son by Lois Lowry

February 22, 2013

Son is the final installment in The Giver series. The narrator is a birth mother, Claire, from the colony which Jonas came from. The opening scene is Claire giving birth. The process is strange, she is blindfolded to keep from bonding with the "product". Lowry's comment on this is haunting, "Her name was Claire. She was fourteen years old."

We then back up a bit to give Claire's character some history. She was disappointed in receiving the job that she did. Birth Mothers are not held in high esteem in the society; they birth three children then are sent to perform manual labor until they are old enough to retire.

Claire's labor was difficult, there was a c-section performed on her, she was told that she would be assigned to a new job as she would no longer be able to give birth. Claire asked if the product was ok, she was told that he was fine. Claire knew then, that she had a son.

I enjoy reading about the modern society which Claire and Jonas come from, more than the villages in the second and third installment of the series. For that reason, I would consider Son my second favorite out of the series.

This is not what I would have expected out of a final book in a series. I thought there would be a deeper understanding of the world around the characters. I want to know why things are the way they are in the series. How many civilizations are there? Why aren't they the same if they are so close in proximity. I would love to have understood more.

Book Review: Messenger by Lois Lowry

February 18, 2013

Messenger is the third installment in The Giver quartet. We are brought back into the story when Matt(y) has been living in the village with Kira's dad (also known as the Seer). Matt is 12 years old and awaiting the receipt of his true name, which coincides with the role that you play in the society. Matt desperately wants to be named "Messenger." The leader of this village, aptly named Leader, is in fact Jonas from The Giver. I love that readers finally get some closure regarding Jonas and Gabe. Matt is comfortable traveling back and forth between Village and other communities, until recently. He has noticed that the forest has become more dangerous. Most members of Village refuse to go anywhere near the forrest, due to people having been severely injured and killed attempting to leave. The Villagers have begun to change as well. Village is no longer the safe haven that it once was. Matty and Jonas must come up with a solution, before it's too late (dramatic music here).

This book was ok, definitely not my favorite installment of this series. I didn't care for the mystical gift stuff that keeps popping up in this book. There was some degree of mysticism in book two, but not to this degree. Also, unlike book two - which can stand alone from book one - I would not suggesting reading this novel, without reading the first two installments.

Book Review Quickie: Sailor Twain: Or, the Mermaid on the Hudson by Mark Siegel

February 10, 2013

Sailor Twain is a charming graphic novel. We follow a river boat captain who traverses the Hudson River. He is a hard-working, dedicated captain until he pulls a wounded mermaid out of the water and hides/nurses her to health. After which, he becomes obsessed with her. An obsession which changes him.

I loved this book. This is a great starter graphic novels for those who are interested in the genre but don't know where to begin. The story is fun and mystical but unfortunately short. For me, this was a two-day read.

The graphics are completely in pencil. Here is once such drawing, which is a bit of a spoiler, please forgive me:

Audiobook Review Quickie: The Amityville Horror: A True Story by Jan Anson

February 4, 2013

I came across this title on Audible and decided to give it a whirl. Prior to listening to this book, I wasn't sure what the whole Amityville thing was about other than there being a pig demon in the movie and an Eminem rap song of the same name - being an adolescent, white girl in the 90's, I am well-versed in Eminem. Anywho, this was a very strange audiobook. The narrator explained that the book was non-fiction and his tone was such that audiobook felt like a six-hour news story.

The book was written in the 70's and was very dated. It begins with the Lutz family moving into 112 Ocean Avenue, the scene of a gruesome murder the year prior. The Lutz's are immediately affected by the "spirits" in the house and after 28 days of living at Ocean Avenue they escape from the home never turning back, not even to collect their belongings.

Some parts of the story were eerie but mostly just corny. Days after listening to the audiobook, the movie adaptation was on SyFy. I love campy scary movies, but this was not campy, this was just boring (however, in all fairness, I was watching the cable version, not the unedited version).

What I find interesting about this story is the amount of controversy that surrounds its status as non-fiction. To catch up, you can read the article on Wikipedia, for what its worth. The controversy reminded me of a recent story on NPR regarding the upcoming re-release of Thirty-Eight Witnesses: The Kitty Genovese Case by A.M. Rosenthal. The book was originally released in 1946 as non-fiction. However, after several decades of fact checking court reports and witness testimonies, it has been confirmed that the "facts" in the book are not true. Now the question posed by NPR, as well as the NY Times, is does the publisher have a responsibility to re-class books that are proven to be incorrect? Now, of course I don't expect a publisher to make the call of whether or not a haunting exists but it does make you think..

Re-read: Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

January 25, 2013

Oh, I do enjoy Jenny Lawson. I reviewed this book around a year ago and completely adored it. I recently downloaded the audiobook from my library and found that Jenny narrates the book, which was a perfect decision by her publisher.

Here is the review from 2012:

I’m not sure what I enjoyed more about this book. The actual laughing to tears moments while reading or the actual laughing to tears moments while retelling the stories to my boyfriend (who kept mentioning that he and Victor have a lot in common).

It says a great deal about Jenny Lawson (of blogging fame) that at 38, she was able to write a 300+ page memoir that is interesting to read. Interesting, not because she is a celebrity or has boinked a celebrity, but because she has lived a strange life and has maintained a good attitude about that life. As Lawson mentions in her prologue, “you are defined, not by life’s imperfect moments, but by your reaction to them.” This sets the tone for the book. Lawson could have written a book about her parent’s questionable child-rearing skills. She could have written a book about tearful issues with fertility. Instead, Lawson wrote a story that holds dark aspects but is told in a lighthearted manner.

Lawson is able to play the role of an unreliable narrator with grace. I’m not sure whether she truly believes in what she says or if she says she believes as such for laughs. Either way, it works for me.

My only disappointment was at the end of the book, when I had turned the last page. I did not want this trip into the mind of Lawson to be over, I wanted to stay in her world for just a bit more.

Luck for us, Lawson blogs about her life so that we can have a taste to keep us happy until her next book.

I would recommend this book … to people with a dark sense of humor who do not mind stories coming from a lady with the mouth of a trucker. Well, if a trucker and a sailor had a baby, that baby would be Jenny Lawson.

My favorite quote … “My God, this is going to be a terrible book.”

Book Review: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

January 20, 2013

Me Before You takes place in a suburb of a suburb of London. Louisa Clark (Lou for short) has recently been laid off from the Buttered Bun, a small restaurant in town, where she has been a waitress for her adult life. She has little ambition in life. She still lives at home at age 27, and she is in a seven year relationship with no advancement in sight. However, she is happy.

After being laid-off, Lou is sent on a plethora of job interviews of which she is unable to find a good match. Her recruiter then sends her on an interview to be a caregiver for a quadriplegic man. With no experience, Lou does not believe that she will receive the job. However, the mother of the disabled man quickly offers her the position. She explains that Will needs companionship, not a medical caregiver. She explains, the contract is only for six months. Will makes it quite hard for Lou: he's quiet, rude and irritable.

Slowly, Lou and Will cultivate a relationship. All is progressing well until Lou hears a conversation between Will's mother and his sister which causes her to reconsider her employment.

This is such a brave story. Well written. Characters are well developed. Not a traditional love story at all. There is a slow development of a relationship which can be overlooked in books.

The author does not belittle Will's condition. We are provided with uncomfortable truths of his situation. It's not glorious. Will will not be healed, no amount of true love will get him out of the chair.

In my opinion, this is a perfect book. It has great character, keeps you completely enveloped in the story and does not pander to the audiences wishes, it is brave and strong. I have tears in my eyes from simply writing this review.

Favorite Quotes:

"I can tell you the exact day I stopped being fearless."

"Knowing you still have possibilities is a luxury."

"And then, just like that, my heart broke."

Click to buy via Word Brooklyn.

Book Review Quickie: Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

January 17, 2013

This is the second book in the Giver series. After reading The Giver, I read a short interview with the author, Lois Lowry. She explained that The Giver was a futuristic world, dependent on technology and advancement, while Gathering Blue is a world devoid of technology. In some ways, The Giver is a utopian novel, while Gathering Blue is dystopian.

Our proganonist is Kira, at the time of the novel's opening, she is sitting and watching her mother's lifeless body give up it's spirit. After four days of watching, she leaves the body to travel back to her cot (which I assume is like a teepee). She finds that the cot was burnt to the ground.

Kira is not well liked by the village, due to a birth defect which causes her to limp. Her mother, Katrina, had begged the elders of her community to allow Kira to live after her birth. Kira's father was killed before she was born by "beasts". The women of Kira's village want her land for themselves and they take her to the Elder's to ask that they let her go in the wilderness. However, Kira has an artistic gift which the Elder's want to use. They grant her leave to stay with the community but she will move into the large government building and she will use her gift for their needs. In the government building, Kira meets a boy named Thomas who was brought to the building under similar circumstances.

Similar to The Giver, Kira's mind is opening while performing her work for the community and she begins to question things that in the past have been understand as simply being so.

The next installment of the Giver series is Messenger, which seems to follow Matt, a friend of Kira's. The Giver and Gathering Blue do not overlap, so a continuation in the tale will be interesting.