Introverted Reader

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer: Book Review

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell adores his father, Thomas. Oskar is something of a genius, so he never fits in at school, but his dad sort of becomes everything to Oskar. And then Thomas Schell dies in one of the towers on 9/11. Two years later, Oskar still isn't handling this well. Snooping around his dad's closet one night, he finds an unusual key. Oskar becomes obsessed with finding the lock the key opens. His dad used to set up complicated scavenger hunts for Oskar, so this is sort of one last game they can play together. But for Oskar, it's really more than a game. He's hoping to find some answers about his father and maybe even finally find some peace. I don't think I would ever have picked this up had it not been chosen for one of my group reads GoodReads. But I'm so glad I read it. I was in love with Oskar within the first five pages or so. He's too smart for his own good, he's funny, and he's broken. What a combination. He's every bit as endearing as Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird or Reuben and Swede from Peace Like a River. He really makes this book. So I'm reading along, and I'm thinking, "This book should really be called Extremely Funny and Incredibly Heart-Breaking." That's how it was. Oskar would have me giggling out loud one minute and then he would talk about how he's invented a bird-seed shirt, so that if you're ever falling off a skyscraper, the birds would all come get you and fly you to safety. Just heart-breaking. But by the end, for me, anyway, it just got to be all heart-breaking. That's why it only got four stars. It was really, really, good, I loved Oskar, it handled…

Introverted Reader Features

Banned Book Character Connection: Neville Longbottom

I have avoided Harry Potter and company completely in my Character Connection posts. It's not that I don't love them; I absolutely do. It's just that my memory for details in books isn't great in the first place, and in the second, I haven't re-read these as often as so many of you have. I don't want to make any glaring mistakes and look like an idiot. I'm going to give this a try for Banned Books Week, so please bear with me and nicely correct any mistakes I make. My husband said something the other day that left us talking for a few minutes about little Neville. I ended by saying that I really liked what Rowling did with his character over the course of the series. Neville isn't the best student at Hogwarts. He's shy and forgets things and makes mistakes in almost all his lessons. If something can go wrong, it's going to go wrong for Neville. He gets into some situations that are funny and painful at the same time, because you can't help but feel bad for the clumsy, gentle boy. But he knows what he's good at and that's where he shines. He has a true gift with plants and he knows it. He doesn't seem to waste time wishing that his talents were flashier and more amazing. He's content with his plants. Neville is being raised by his strict, aristocratic, it's-all-about-the-family-name, grandmother. She is an awful person to be raising a child like Neville. Instead of encouraging his talents, she dwells on his weaknesses and always makes him feel bad. No one really knows what happened to Neville's parents, but everyone just seems to assume that they died in the first Wizarding War. He doesn't talk about them and doesn't ask for anyone's…

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September 29, 2011

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston: Book Review

Janie Crawford is only 16 years old when her grandmother decides to marry her off to a man who is well-respected in the community. Nanny has had to work hard all her life and she wants Janie to have an easier life. She marries her off as soon as she notices boys noticing Janie. It comes from a place of love, but Janie wants to live life, not just settle for comfort. So she sets out to live the kind of life she wants to live. You just have to admire Janie. My gosh, does she just take a big bite out of life and chew it with gusto! She does not have an easy time of it by any means. But she weathers the hard times and she wrings every drop of sweetness out of the good times. She learns early on that she shouldn't be too concerned about what others think of her choices. She's the one who has to live with her decisions, so she's the only person she needs to please. And besides, you can't make everybody happy, so why even try? I already knew a little about the town of Eatonville, Florida, the first incorporated all-black town in the US, from reading Zora and Me by Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon. That was getting a little out of order, but I did like reading this and seeing where some of Bond and Simon's ideas about the young Zora came from. The town and the alligator stories were especially interesting to me. I did have a little bit of a hard time with the dialect that the book is written in. I think for about the first half of the book, I was laboriously sounding out each word and translating it in my head. I finally…

The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey: Book Review

George Beard and Harold Hutchins are the 4th grade pranksters at their school. They change school signs around to say funny things, they fill cheerleader pom poms with black pepper, and they fill footballs with helium. Perhaps their favorite pastime, though, is writing comic books. They steal into the school office and make copies to sell when the secretary's back is turned, then sell their comics to the other kids at the school. Their best superhero is Captain Underpants, who fights with Wedgie Power. "Tra-la-laaa!" Their mean school principal, Mr. Krupp, really dislikes Harold and George for all the chaos they cause in his school. He blackmails them into behaving, but George and Harold find a way to fight back. Mr. Krupp never knows what hits him. Oh my goodness. What a fun book! I was giggling away reading this by myself at the age of 33. I would have laughed to the point of tears as a child. But then, I've always loved a good fart joke. Unsophisticated, I know, but farts happen. Might as well get a laugh out of them. George and Harold are a couple of comic geniuses. They have a talent for getting into trouble but their real talents lie in getting out of trouble. Their imagination and creativity seems to be limitless! And what they do to Mr. Krupp... I loved it! What kid, no matter how well-behaved, doesn't dream of rebelling against some authority figure? If we're honest, we never lose those dreams. It feels so good to see someone acting out like that, even if it is just in the pages of a book. There is one chapter that features flip-o-rama. I had such a good time with this! The book has reached a crashing climax and all of a sudden you…

The Color Purple by Alice Walker: Book Review

Celie is only a young teen when her stepfather marries her off to their widowed acquaintance, Albert. Celie is little more than a slave to the family. Albert has several spoiled children who terrorize her and he regularly beats her himself. Celie just puts her head down, writes letters to God, and tries to go unnoticed. As time goes by, Celie loses contact with her beloved sister, Nettie. She starts writing letters to Nettie as well, but she never hears back. Then Albert moves his ailing lover, blues singer Shug Avery, into the house and expects Celie to take care of her. Far from feeling jealous of Shug, Celie is relieved that someone is there to deflect Albert's attention from her. The women become friends and Celie realizes how much more there is to life than what she's getting out of it. I read this in order to have a review ready for Banned Books Week. I'm not sure what on earth possessed me to buy it at a library book sale. I've always been a little afraid of it, ever since hearing my grandmother talk about the movie years ago: "Oprah wasn't going to let that man beat on her." Wife abuse. Not exactly my cup of tea. I was surprised to find myself loving the book. I was taken aback in the very first pages, I'll admit. Rape and beatings and killing babies, and all of this happening to a 14-year-old girl. I didn't know if I was going to be able to finish it. I'm so glad I stuck with it. You see, Celie is not obviously a strong person. She is a survivor, but she doesn't really thrive. She just gets by. Watching her come into her own and become a woman to be reckoned with…

Bookish Miscellany

It’s Monday! What Are You Are Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. Posted:Mini review: Bone: Out from Boneville by Jeff Smith Review: Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs Character Connection featuring Mary Hightower, aka Mary, Queen of Snots from Everlost by Neal Shusterman Review: Heir to the Shadows by Anne Bishop Welcome to Banned Books Week Read:East of Eden by John Steinbeck (for Banned Books Week) The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (in preparation for the movie) The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey (also for Banned Books Week) Currently Reading:Horns by Joe Hill Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts by Julian Rubinstein When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris, read by the author Up Next:I just checked out a few horror/spooky reads from the library, so I'll read one of those next, probably The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff. I'll need a break between Joe Hill and Stephen King; they are both perfectly capable of scaring me sleepless! What are you reading this week? I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore located in downtown Asheville, NC; and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site.

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September 26, 2011

Introverted Reader Features

Welcome to Banned Books Week 2011!

I wrote that title like it's an exciting thing, when in reality I wish there was no need for a week like this. From the ALA website: "Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States."Let's take a look at the First Amendment, shall we? "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."That says that we cannot make laws that limit each person's freedom of speech. That means your freedom, mine, or an author's. Anything that anyone wants to write about (or talk about or read about) is okay. So why do people keep trying to limit others' freedom of speech? You know that these very same people would screech like banshees if they felt their rights were being infringed upon in any way. I don't really gravitate naturally toward banned books. They tend to deal with very serious issues, and while I do think it is great that there are authors out there with the courage to tackle these subjects, that's not exactly my cup of tea. I'm more of an escapist reader. What I have noticed as I've been involved with Banned Books Week over the past two years (last year's soapbox post) is that so many of these banned/challenged books are written by minorities. I guess people find it…

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September 24, 2011

Heir to the Shadows by Anne Bishop: Book Review

Definite spoilers for Daughter of the Blood. At the end of the first book, Jaenelle is broken and Daemon isn't in much better shape. Jaenelle has to heal in this book and come to terms with what she is. Luckily, she's surrounded by caring friends who are willing to protect her and push her as needed. I truly wanted to give this one 5 stars. Again, it grabbed me and just did not let go. But there were a few more things that I couldn't overlook. To start with, I was a little more aware in this book that the writing could have been more polished. I can't think of an example, so you'll just have to take my word for it. Also, this one felt more like a young adult book. The focus of the first book was mostly Daemon, a grown man. The focus of this one is a teenage Jaenelle, so the tone has gone backwards a little bit. As happens sometimes in trilogies, this second book felt like filler. The author wrapped up a few threads from the first book and set up the conflict for the third book, but there wasn't a whole lot of actual new, necessary stuff going on in this book. The big thing was that the book felt very episodic. There wasn't a great flow. I would finish one chapter/story, and in the next chapter, two years had passed and another little story was being told. It would take me a page or two to figure out when the story was happening. That was the bad stuff, but there was still lots of good things going on. I love these main characters. Daemon wasn't seen as much in this one, but we did get to see more of Lucivar. I do…

Introverted Reader Features

Character Connection: Mary Hightower aka “Mary, Queen of Snots”

Mary Hightower is one of the main characters in Everlost by Neal Shusterman. And I think part of the reason I want to write about her is because of that "Queen of Snots" moniker. My inner 12-year-old giggles every time. Mary is too good to be true, right from the beginning. She's a ruler in a limbo for children who've died but don't "get where they're going." They're stuck in a shadow of our world that they call Everlost. "Her" children are mostly very young, which is what gets Mary called the Queen of Snots. Mary rules a skyscraper and she has accumulated a smorgasbord of all the things that children love best. Okay, maybe not all the things, but everything she can get her hands on. There are tvs and video games and jump ropes and other children to play with. She even trades around to get the children real food, an almost-unheard-of luxury in Everlost. But you can't help but wonder what's in it for her. She's so...regally condescending?... that I was immediately waiting for her true colors to come bursting from behind her mask. No one is that good. No one. And this is coming from a goody two shoes. She is a sort of mother to all her children, even though she's only 14 or 15 herself. So I was wondering for a while if that was what she got out of it: unconditional love from "her children." But that doesn't seem to be it either. In her every scene I found myself inspecting her, trying to find out what her angle is. Oh, and she loves to write books full of advice for newcomers to Everlost. I wish I could better remember some of the things she writes. She's totally serious but she comes across…

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September 22, 2011

Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs: Book Review

**Possible spoilers for Moon Called** Mercedes Thompson is a mechanic who just happens to walk in two worlds. There's the mundane world where she spends her time fixing VWs, and there's the supernatural world that she was born into. See, Mercy is a walker. She can shift into coyote form at will. She's not as physically strong as a werewolf, but she has other strengths to make up for it. So when local vampire Stefan needs some unobtrusive help in sniffing out a new vampire in town who is poaching on his seethe's turf, he asks Mercy to shift and go with him. They both get more than they bargained for. This vampire is unknown, and so must be fairly young, but his strength is unimaginable. He is wreaking havoc in the Tri-cities, and it's going to take more than one vampire and a shifter to bring him down. I like Mercy a lot. (And I loathe these covers. Loathe them, I tell you.) It would be very, very easy to fall in with the local werewolf pack and start to lose her independence. She has fought hard to gain that independence and she fights hard to keep it. It's just so hard to keep fighting when the werewolves are so damn sexy. I would purr if that were appropriate when talking about werewolves. Adam is hot and a great alpha. He doesn't just throw his weight around and beat on those who are submissive to him. He cares for them and tries to be is a true leader. Samuel is a little outside the local pack, for some very complicated reasons, but he is every bit as dominant as Adam is. And he's Mercy's roommate. And they have a history. *Arching of the eyebrow here.* *Shakes head* Anyway. Enough…