Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

It's Tuesday... Where are you?

Hosted by An Adventure In Reading - "Where is your reading taking you today?"

Today I am in New York City in the early 1900's with Undine Spragg. She is trying to gain entrance into upper-class society by making an advantageous marriage. The book is The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton.

Review: Frozen Tears

Title: Frozen Tears
Author: Mary Ann MacAfee
Publisher: Self-published (2008)
Pages: 360
Genre: Fiction
Book Source: Review copy from author

Frozen Tears is set in a small, remote town in the interior of Alaska. The protagonist Kale Weaver is a young woman who's life takes shape in some unexpected ways. Her work protecting water quality predisposes her to a close connection to nature and this connection strengthens through the years as she learns about Ennuit beliefs and rituals. She falls in love with Elliot, an Alaskan native who is a pilot. As the story progresses Kale has to face some very difficult and tragic events that test her to her limits physically and emotionally. She is able to get through these things by searching for meaning in the natural environment and by finding purpose in caring for mistreated wolves. Wolves become a personal symbol in Kale's life journey. The lessons she learns about Ennuit culture from her father-in-law provide her with the wisdom she needs to make some very hard choices.

In Frozen Tears Mary Ann MacAfee transports the reader to such a beautiful and harsh setting in which the tragedies that occur in the narrative are quite likely to occur in reality. When I began the book I was concerned that the theme of protecting the Alaskan environment may overwhelm the story and be the sole focus of the novel. I was pleasantly surprised that it was not this simplistic at all. The theme was present as part of a more complex story that engaged with many different moral dilemmas and life challenges. Kale is a strong and intelligent character who has to deal with both the best and worst of another culture. I enjoyed immersing myself in the Alaskan wilderness and learning about the type of courage and stamina required to live in such an isolated and harsh place.

Author Website: maryannmacafee.com

Guest Review (of sorts): The Tale of Despereaux

Title: The Tale of Despereaux
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Publisher: Candlewick Press (2003)
Book Source: School Library

My 8 year old daughter Lillian reads a lot but this particular book she is re-reading at home as well as listening to the teacher read it at school. She has a bookmark keeping the place her class is up to, a bookmark keeping where she has read ahead past the class during spare time at school, and a book mark where she has started back at the beginning at home. So let's ask her what is so great about The Tale of Despereaux to warrant three concurrent readings.

Lillian's Answer: "There is lots of things happening at the same time and it is really interesting. Well like it is a huge book with lots of different stories in it. It has got 370 pages in it and there is this one bit that is really funny. Despereaux (the mouse) falls in love with a princess (a human) and he is not supposed to let the princess touch him or see him and so he has to go into the dungeon. That is where the rats are and the rats want to eat him, but he hasn't been eaten yet and I don't think he will be because I have already read the book before and I remember that he stays alive."

Lillian's Favorite Passage: "The Princess Pea looked down at Despereaux ... Despereaux stared up at her in wonder. The Pea, he decided, looked just like the picture of the fair maiden in the book in the library. The princess smiled at Despereaux again, and this time, Despereaux smiled back. And then, something incredible happened: The mouse fell in love."

I asked her to tell me more about this book but she wanted to keep reading and was mad that I was interrupting her reading to ask who the author and publisher were. So we had better leave her to it.

A Reading Snack

When you are living in a foreign country you tend to get excited about finding a product from "home". The other day I found Tim Tams and am happy to report that they are the real thing. This is not exactly a post about something book related, but is loosely connected to the theme of the blog because Tim Tams make a great reading snack. If you want to give it a try, here is the procedure:

1. Look for them at Target (if you click on the photo to enlarge you will see they are imported by Pepperidge Farm, I found my packet at Target in the grocery section)
2. Make a cup of coffee
3. Grab your current read
4. Dip chocolate cookie (biscuit is the Australian term) in your coffee. This will cause it to begin melting so don't leave it in the coffee too long.
5. Enjoy!
6. Watch out for falling crumbs that nestle in book pages

Note: I did not get compensated in any way for this post. It is solely my unbiased opinion. (I wish that I did get a case of free Tim Tams out of it.)

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Review: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Title: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: A Novel
Author: Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
Publisher: The Dial Press (2008)
Genre: Historical Fiction
Book Source: Library Copy

Set in 1946 soon after the Second World War, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society tells the story of a writer who is searching for a subject for a book. The protagonist Juliet Ashton enters into a correspondence with a man from Guernsey, a British Island occupied by the Nazis during the war. Through letters between Juliet and her friends old and new, an intriguing portrayal of what it was like to live through the German occupation emerges. The members of the society and the stories they tell capture Juliet as both a writer and a human being. After she has done as much research as she can she realizes that she must go there herself.

The tone of this book was light and humorous even though it related to war. The cast of characters were quirky and interesting. The letter format worked perfectly. (It reminded me of the book and film 84 Charing Cross Road.) Even though the letters often related anecdotes and little stories there was a strong plot line tying it all together. The letters are written by many different characters, so we get many different viewpoints along the way. I really enjoyed the writing style; it helped to evoke the time period so well. I did have a niggling hesitation about the way in which many war time atrocities were brushed over or taken lightly but it seems that the authors purpose was to look for the good in humans regardless of the external circumstances and allegiances. Overall, I really enjoyed The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and would recommend it as a funny and sweet story that celebrates books as a way to rise above life's difficulties.

Where Are You?

Hosted by An Adventure In Reading - "Where is your reading taking you today?"

Right now I am in The Glade, which is a fictional place created by James Dashner in his book called The Maze Runner. The Glade is surrounded by massive stone walls with doors that lead out into a maze. Each night the doors close the inhabitants inside the Glade in order to protect them from the dangerous creatures that roam the maze at night.

Quote & Question

Quote:

“Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself. You bring to a novel, anything you read, all your experience of the world. You bring your history and you read it in your own terms.”

^{- Angela Carter}

^Question:

^{When you are reviewing a book(or recommending one to a friend) do you try to stay objective when evaluating it's merits or are you happy to allow your own unique perspective to come through in your review?}

Review: Chronic City

Title: Chronic City
Author: Jonathan Lethem
Publisher: Doubleday (2009)
Genre: Fiction
Book Source: ARC from Publisher (Doubleday)

Chase Insteadman is the character who narrates this unique story of a group of friends who live in Manhattan. Chase was a child star who now floats through life with no particular purpose. His only responsibility is his role as the fiance of Janice Trumbull who is trapped on the International Space Station and sends him love letters which are also printed in the newspaper. When Chase meets Perkus Tooth his life takes on a new routine. Perkus is a cultural critic who endeavors to enlighten Chase with his wild drug induced theories and paranoid interpretations of life in Manhattan. He obsessive search for truth takes the form of cutting up magazines to rearranging words and analyzing various films. As Chase joins Perkus in his search for meaning other characters enter the story-scape such as Oona Laszlo, a ghost writer and Richard Abneg who works for the mayor. One of the bizarre adventures Perkus leads the group into is an obsession with "chaldrons", which they feverishly try to buy on Ebay auctions. In the end the characters of Chronic City discover that things are not what they appear and they are quite possibly mindlessly playing out their assigned roles.

It took me a while to get into this book. It had me puzzled and wondering where it was going. Chronic City is not a gripping read due to its detailed ramblings about what goes on in the mind of Perkus Tooth, some of which is interesting but mostly absurd. It makes for very little and very slow plot development. That being said, I was interested in the overall themes even though I felt that they tended toward repetition and ambiguity. A lot seemed unnecessary. Lethem has written a very long and detailed portrayal of modern city life. His characters illustrate the compelling force of obsession. I did enjoy his postmodern themes and would recommend it to people who like heavy reading.

Wordless Wednesday

These were taken at a lake in Vermont, USA

Wordless Wednesday

It's Tuesday... Where Are You?

Hosted by An Adventure In Reading - "Where is your reading taking you today?"

This Tuesday I am sailing around about to discover the Hudson River. I am reading Half Moon: Henry Hudson and the Voyage that Redrew the Map of the New World by Douglas Hunter