Introverted Reader

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin: Book Review

Sixteen strangers move into a brand-new apartment building next door to the estate of missing, eccentric millionaire, Sam Westing. When Westing turns up dead, the sixteen people are given clues and charged with finding out who killed him. I swear I read this when I was in fifth grade, but I didn't remember a thing about it when I just re-read it. But it was a lot of fun. I had a pretty good idea where the mystery was going, but I really think that as a kid, I would have been stumped. There were all kinds of crazy twists and turns throughout. At first glance, I was a little puzzled as to why this won a Newbery Medal. It's a mystery with some great puzzles involved, but is it really a lasting contribution to children's literature? I was surprised by how much was going on under the surface of this book. The sixteen investigators are partnered up in some unusual ways. They learn to move past some of their prejudices by working with someone they normally would never interact with. Even the young, pretty thing shows us why it's bad to dismissively label someone like that. The only thing that jarred with this message was the serious use of the term Mongoloid. But I guess even that goes to shows that there's always room for us to improve our views of others. I think this quote shows something of what I'm trying to say here: "She meant, you know, that people are so afraid of revealing their true selves, they have to hide behind some sort of prop." Throughout the game, these props are systematically stripped away, and the characters are left to openly be themselves. And the other characters learn to accept them as they are. Don't get…

Good Harbor by Anita Diamant: Book Review

Kathleen and Joyce are both living on Cape Ann. When they meet, they're both a little lonely and going through some tough times in their lives. Kathleen is facing a breast cancer diagnosis and Joyce has a terrible teenager at home and a mostly-absent husband. They immediately click and become confidantes. I think it says just about everything you need to know when I write that I really never did get the two names straight in my head. They're not even that similar but I had to have context before I could think, "Right. Kathleen=cancer, Joyce=family trouble." The book just felt a little too generic to me. They could be any two women anywhere at just about anytime. And that may be exactly what the author was going for. Anyone who's had this kind of deep, soul-baring friendship may immediately recognize it and love the book. I'm too private for that kind of thing. I'm quiet so I don't have many friends but the ones I do have are truly close friends. I would do anything for them and they would do anything for me. Nobody hears everything though. So this kind of tell-all friendship just leaves me in the dark. Some women will enjoy this book more than others. I didn't really connect with it but if you think you will, give it a try. Read an excerpt. Find author Anita Diamant on her website, her blog, Facebook, and Twitter. Buy Good Harbor at Malaprop’s | Better World Books I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore located in beautiful 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. My opinions are completely my own.

The Innocent by David Baldacci: Book Review

Will Robie is a sanctioned assassin for the US government. Needless to say, if he screws up he's officially on his own. He gets an odd assignment amidst the cartel bosses and terrorists that are his usual hits. He's assigned to take out a woman who works for the Department of Defense. The official story is, she's got terrorist ties. He walks into her apartment and realizes something isn't right. He freezes and re-evaluates as her child wakes up and starts to panic, just in time for a second sniper to kill both him and his mom. Robie goes underground to find out what's going on. He climbs on a bus and watches a teen girl board as well. Shortly behind her is a man who looks like a professional. Robie watches as the man prepares to kill the girl, ready to act if he needs to. It turns out, she's capable of taking care of herself but now she's on the run with Robie. I wanted something pretty exciting and fun to listen to and I have to say this did fit the bill. It took me by surprise when the sound effects started though. I can't recall having sound effects in many other audio books and I'm not sure if I like them. Mostly they just yank me out of the story as I look around, wondering where the gunshots are coming from. (I live kind of in the country in the South. It's not unusual for neighbors to indulge in some target practice.) I liked David McLarty's narration quite a bit. He has a gruff kind of voice that I thought suited the story perfectly. I also liked that Orlagh Cassidy read the female dialog but I occasionally felt too much like she was actually reading to…

Bookish Miscellany

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. I went to Malaprop's for the book launch of The League of Seven by Alan Gratz on Friday. It's a middle-grade steampunk adventure. I had a great time and the book sounds like it's "full of awesome," which is what the author said he was going for. I can't wait to read it! I hope to write more about the event this week. Posted: Banned Books Week Review: In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak--4 Stars Banned Books Week Review: The Witches by Roald Dahl--4 Stars Banned Books Week Review: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz--4 Stars Banned Books Week Review: Blubber by Judy Blume--3.5 Stars Banned Books Week Review: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel--4 Stars Read: The Awakening by Kate Chopin The Innocent by David Baldacci, read by Ron McLarty with Orlagh Cassidy Currently Reading: Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees Dreadnought by Cherie Priest, read by Kate Reading Walden; or, Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau Up Next: It's almost October and time for my annual horror-fest! I'm heading to the library on my lunch break tomorrow. I typically read a lot of Stephen King and Joe Hill in October but I'd like to branch out a little. I may pick up The Isle of Blood by Rick Yancey. Any other recommendations? What are you reading this week? I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore located in beautiful 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. My opinions are completely my own.

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September 29, 2014

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel: Book Review

In this graphic novel memoir, Alison Bechdel explores her relationship with her father, who later admitted to being homosexual; his suicide; her childhood; and her early years after coming out as a lesbian. I really kind of hate reviewing these kinds of books. They're so intensely personal. Who am I to judge the work of someone who has effectively bled his or her heart out on the page? Any negative comments feel like personal attacks when I write them. So here's the best I can do. Let me first get what I didn't care for out of the way. The tone of the book is so very earnest and introspective and intellectual, ultimately drawing parallels between Joyce's Ulysses and her relationship with her father. Holy smokes. I only think that way in lit class. It's appropriate and relevant, I get that. It's just not my way of dealing with crap and so I don't really relate to it. At the same time, I admire Bechdel for her bravery in putting her story out there. I'm sure it's a form of therapy for her, getting what she feels out on paper and working it out for herself. But it also help others who may be going through something similar. I liked the artwork a lot. The stark black and whites matched the somber tone of the book perfectly. Some of them will be too graphic for some readers though. I think that the summary alone will tell you whether this is a book for you or not. If you're interested, I do recommend it. This graphic novel has been at the center of several controversies. There's a good summary at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. It gets head-shakingly ironic. It all seems to stem from allegations that the book is…

Blubber by Judy Blume: Book Review

Linda, an overweight girl in fifth grade, gives a report about whales one day. Someone passes around a note that "Blubber is a good name for her" and Linda has a new nickname. The other kids start to tease and harass her and just generally make her life miserable. Our narrator, Jill, watches all this and even takes part in it. Holy cow, what mean little kids these are! This was hard to read, even as an adult. Or maybe it's because I'm an adult and unconsciously prefer to look back at childhood with rose-colored glasses. We definitely had a pecking order in our class and the kids at the bottom of it were picked on but I don't remember it being this bad! The sad thing is that it all feels real though. I tended to keep to myself so there could have been mean girls cornering other girls in the bathroom and stripping them off and making fun of them mercilessly for all I know. And even if my class wasn't that mean, just the act of avoiding someone or always choosing him or her last for teams was damaging enough. There may be degrees but bullying is still bullying. The beauty of the book is that the reader first has enough distance to see how cruelly the other kids treat Linda and then, when the tables are turned, learn how it feels to be tormented. It definitely teaches a lesson about how destructive bullying is without being too preachy. I don't know if there are better books about bullying out there but this one has become a classic. Children should have to read it or something like it so that they can learn how hurtful their actions can be. And if a child is being picked on,…

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz: Book Review

Anytime kids gather together in the dark, scary stories are inevitably told. Alvin Schwartz gathered a good selection of the most popular and published them in this anthology. I kind of think this scared me when I was little but I don't actually remember ever checking it out from the library. My theory is that I knew it would scare me so I steered clear. I do remember all my little classmates rushing to check out the one copy we had in our school library though. Reading this now, the stories aren't particularly scary. The author chose to divide the book into sections, with the first being "Jump" stories, where the teller gets to the climax and gives out a blood-curdling scream to scare the wits out of the listeners. I can see that they would be scary in person but on the page they were actually a little silly. The others were a little more fulfilling if you're looking for a frightening read. There are sections about ghosts and urban legends and even a few songs. (How's this for a coincidence? I read "The Hearse Song" here, "The worms crawl in, The worms crawl out, The worms play pinochle on your snout" and then came across it again in my very next read, Blubber.) It was interesting to me as an older reader to recognize basic elements here that I've come across in other books that were published later. I can't help but wonder if the later books got the idea from this one or if they are all just referencing the same old folktales and legends. The illustrations by Stephen Gammell are downright creepy and perfect for the book. Young readers who like a good fright should find what they're looking for in this collection. According to the…

The Witches by Roald Dahl: Book Review

Our young British protagonist and his Norwegian grandmother know something that we don't: Witches are real and they live among us. They look like sweet neighbor ladies but they're keeping a lot of secrets. Chief among them? They want to wipe out the children of the world. When Grandmamma and Grandson (do we ever learn his name?) go on vacation to the coast of England, they stumble on the annual witches' meeting, led by The Grand High Witch herself. The witches have a plan to eliminate all the children of England at once! That won't happen if Grandmamma and Grandson have anything to say about it. Confession: I remember starting to watch this movie when I was little and spending the night at my grandmother's house but it scared me to death. We had to turn it off. I told my husband this and he asked, "How old were you?" I looked up the release date of The Witches. It came out when I was 12. 12! And I was probably 13 by the time it came out on video or on tv or however I happened to catch it! What can I say? I was sheltered. And Anjelica Huston intimidates me to this day. I can just imagine facing her as a tween, on a screen or not. *shudder* Now that I'm firmly in my 30s, I'm brave enough to read the source. It was so much fun! It was (obviously) scary and suspenseful enough to satisfy most children but it had an element of silliness and impossibility that captures the imagination. There's really no such thing as a bald witch with claws, no toes, blue spit, and a removable face. But what if there were? *shiver* I enjoyed Grandson's bravery and Grandmamma's willingness to let him take risks…

In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak: Book Review

Young Mickey hears a noise deep in the night and finds himself falling into the Night Kitchen, where he has to help the cooks get the milk into the batter. What a fun little book! I never read much Sendak when I was little for some reason, so this was completely new to me. The illustrations were tons of fun, of course. The kitchen is set against a "skyline" of boxes of cake mix, tall salt shakers, and an elevated bread train. They're perfectly whimsical for this book. I imagine children would love the story of little Mickey saving the day. I know I did! How much fun is it to imagine that only you can accomplish something important while the world, including your parents, is sleeping? It should also be a great book to read aloud. It's short and to the point and rhymes just enough to roll off the tongue. I highly recommend this one to parents with young children as a fun little bedtime story. Apparently some parents and even librarians are/were upset that a few pictures depict Mickey nude. I was a little taken aback myself when I saw it and knew that had to be the reason the book shows up on banned/challenged lists. After thinking about it, I decided that most kids are probably going to giggle, think the book is even more fun, and move on. It's perfectly innocent. Heck, if I want to get all analytical, we can talk about Mickey shedding his normal life of pj's and bedtime for the more illicit, and therefore more enjoyable, world of being up in the night and saving the day, all things kids probably aren't supposed to do. It represents freedom to them, even if they can't articulate that. View an excerpt. Buy In…

Bookish Miscellany

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. Posted:Review: The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka, read by Samantha Quan and Carrington MacDuffie--3 Stars Review: The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan, read by Joshua Swanson--4 Stars Review: Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik--4 Stars Welcom to Banned Books Week 2014 Read:Blubber by Judy Blume Fun Home by Alison Bechdel Currently Reading:The Awakening by Kate Chopin The Innocent by David Baldacci, read by Ron McLarty with Orlagh Cassidy Walden; or, Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau Up Next:Hopefully I'll finish The Awakening in time to post a review for Banned Books Week this week. If I do, I'll pick up Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees again. It got put on hold so I could read enough banned books to get me through this week. What are you reading? I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore located in beautiful 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. My opinions are completely my own.

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September 22, 2014