Anathem

I finished listening to Anathem by Neal Stephenson yesterday and I didn't post about it right away because I was giving myself time to think about it. I didn't want to be too hasty in my praise, but after at least twenty-four hours I can still say that I loved it.

It was about 29 hours of audio book and it took me about three weeks. While part of me wishes I had more to listen to, actually, I'm very satisfied with the resolution. I don't want to say much about the plot because it would take a lot of time for me to feel like I'd explained it in a satisfactory way, and because I went into the book knowing almost nothing about it and I liked it that way. I will say that it's from the point of view of a teenage boy (17-20 over the course of the book) who has grown up in a intellectual monastery (which is to say, the focus of their abstinence from culture is pursuit of knowledge, not faith). The conflict/agreement of faith/knowledge play into the book, but are not a primary focus.

I told Adam I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much if I had read it instead of listened to it, mostly because of the large number of invented words/terms (the story is set on an alien world, i.e., not earth), and I could tell you now that either way it's not going to be everybody's cup of tea, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Book: 6

The Fault in Our Stars

I just finished reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green last night. It took me two days, but I read almost all of it yesterday. I thought it was really good, but also very, very sad. It had me laughing out loud and crying by turns (sometimes within pages of each other).

I told Adam last night that the book says some really important, almost profound things, but more frequently, it says simple or basic things in really eloquent ways. It's a young adult novel about a girl with cancer, and it handled the topics of death, life, friendship, and romance really well for a book in that genre, dealing with that subject. It handled it well for a book in general.

I'd totally reread it, but probably wouldn't give it to anybody younger than 16.

Book: 5

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

So, I finished Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan a few days ago and I still haven't blogged about it. I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it was nice to read a fantasy book written for younger kids that remembered it was for younger kids. And it didn't have some of the rebellion issues that I had with Harry Potter. It was sometimes exciting, sometimes funny. Although at times the humor tended to lean juvenile for it's audience (a kind of obvious sarcasm and certain observations that would have been hilarious to me as a twelve-year-old) I really appreciated that Riordan doesn't confuse "juvenile" with "gross."

That said, I'm not reading the next one. A large part of it for me is that I found it fun, but not fascinating enough to want to keep reading. And I think part of it is that the scale of the plot is so large that I found it a little alienating. Yeah, yeah, sure, it's about Greek gods and goddesses, and I realize that emotions/lives are at stake, but on some level it's a personal issue (and the same one I've had with some superhero/action films recently). Percy Jackson gets to a point where both the problems and solutions are so far removed from anything actually possible, that it turns into a sort of bland muddle for me. It's kinda like Star Trek-- I love some Star Trek, but I can only handle so much of it at one time-- after a while, the concocted issues and resolutions start to blur for me.

Finally, I wouldn't give this to a twelve-year-old, I don't think. It is about Greek gods and goddesses and their children, and as such, Greek gods and goddesses seducing/falling in love with mortals is a pretty major part of the story. There aren't any actual seduction scenes (like I said, Riordan keeps it pretty clean in many regards), but it's undeniably a major part of the history for a lot of characters. And for me, anyway, there's a difference between giving a twelve-year-old a story that shows the consequences of adultery/seduction/unmarried sex, and a book that accepts it as "the norm."

I understand some might argue that Percy's quest (and his life, really) are showing consequences-- but I'd disagree. The consequences are for Poseidon breaking his oath to his brothers about not having more kids, not the problem of "sleeping around" itself. All the gods who didn't swear that oath are still having kids with mortals and it's definitely upheld as "the norm."

Like I said, Greek gods and goddesses, I know! You can't walk two feet through a Greek myth and not find somebody sleeping with somebody else. (A swan, Zeus? Really?) But it's one thing to me to present those stories as part of the history of somebody's (false) religion, and another to let twelve-year-olds consume it as a major part of their "leisure" reading.

So, verdict: Don't regret reading, probably won't keep going.

Also, got some new books recently (for Valentine's Day and otherwise), so hopefully getting through a few more this month!

Book: 4

Microbe

I didn't finish Microbe, by Dr. Alan Zelicoff and Michael Bellomo. It's about viruses and I thought it would be fascinating-- in some ways, it kind of is-- but it just didn't capture my attention enough. I made it to page 29 and let it sit for about two weeks before I realized it was just keeping me from reading other things. Oh, well. Maybe I'll try again sometime. It didn't really have anything particularly wrong with it, so I feel sort of bad not finishing. Eh.

Speak

I just finished Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson. It was recommended and loaned by a friend. I thought it was really good. I need to go do dishes, so I don't have time to write much about it, but I just finished it in one day-- that's how compelling I found it. Maybe I'll edit this post later to write more, but I wanted to type up something as an immediate reaction.

Book: 3

Board Books

I was reading some books to the Buddies today (which is how Adam and I usually refer to Théoden and Samuel, rather than "the twins") and realized I kinda wanted to blog about some of them. I'm keeping track of what I read this year and this is a large part of it-- these dozen or so books, over and over and over and over and over.

The boys love to be read to. They love to look at books, hold books, touch books, carry books around with them. They bring books to us, one book after another, for an hour, sometimes. I love it and it's exhausting. The other day, I read a current favorite no less than thirty times in one day-- and any mom of a book-lover will tell you that's pretty normal. I've already been interrupted twice while writing this to read books.

Three times, heh.

So, what exactly are we reading?

Current favorites are:

Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle

My First Book of Colors, by Eric Carle

Blue Hat, Green Hat, by Sandra Boynton

Moo, Baa, La La La, by Sandra Boynton

A to Z, by Sandra Boynton

Doggies, by Sandra Boynton

Where's Spot? by Eric Hill

Spot's First Walk, by Eric Hill

Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd

That's Not My Pirate, by Fiona Watts

Mommy Hugs, by Anne Gutman and Georg Hallensleben

Daddy Kisses, by Anne Gutman and Georg Hallensleben

Colors, by Chadwick Coleman

Where's Spot? lost all of the flaps-- they were all torn out within about a week. Spot's First Walk has fared a bit better, but only because it's kept up on a shelf out of reach. They go to the shelf and point to it when they want to read that one (which, right now, is about every other minute). Even without the flaps, though, Where's Spot? is still a favorite.

Sandra Boynton has a special place in my heart from my own childhood and I'm just happy the boys like her books, too. Blue Hat, Green Hat is a particular favorite of Théoden's, and Samuel used to bring us Doggies several times a day. He still enjoys it, but isn't as insistent about it.

Goodnight Moon didn't catch on until Adam started reading it and pointing out each noun on the page (he'd point to kittens whenever it said, "Goodnight kittens," for example) and now it's really exciting to see them starting to make even more connections. Now, Samuel won't let us past the "The cow jumping over the moon," page unless I also point out, "A cow! A cow says moo!" like it says in Moo, Baa, La La La. If I forget, he turns the page back and points to the cow, insisting, "That? That? That?"

That's Not My Pirate by Fiona Watts is great! The boys also have That's Not My Dinosaur. We had That's Not My Lion, but it was falling apart too much to keep. (Several of our books are now rebound with duct tape, and Lion was one of the few that couldn't be saved.) The That's Not My series is an Usbourne series with textures on each page. They were some of the very first books we read to the boys, when they were too little to even touch the pages on their own. They would get really excited when we helped them feel the textures, though.

The only other books I want to mention more specifically are the books Mommy Hugs and Daddy Kisses. I found these wonderful little books on a Barnes & Noble trip with my mother-in-law and they're favorites of mine. Each page has an animal interacting with their young, i.e. "Mommy penguin hugs her chick with a nibble." We do all the actions as we read and the boys really enjoy it. The Daddy Kisses one also incorporates specific body parts ("on the nose," "on the ear," etc.).

Anyway. That's what else I'm reading right now. I'll probably add some more as we add some to our collection or as other books become more popular with the Buddies. I'm also planning on adding a post about books I want to get for them. That list is pretty darn long. Heh.

Divergent

I just finished Divergent, by Veronica Roth. Now I'm waiting for the second book to come out in May!

It was interesting. It's supposedly targeted toward young adults, but it was recommended to me by another mom. As far as feel, it's a bit akin to The Hunger Games. It's a bit...racier? than The Hunger Games, though. Or rather, it addresses a bit more on the physical/emotional level in relationships.

The novel takes place in a dystopian society that was an attempt at utopia (my favorite kind of book, I think!). Some of it really was fascinating. There were some parts that were a bit obvious and I figured them out pretty quickly, but there was enough that kept me guessing that I didn't get bored. As far as characters go, I think I actually like Beatrice Prior a bit more than Katniss Everdeen. Maybe it's because Divergent is more fresh in my memory, but I feel like Beatrice had a bit more depth.

Conclusion: Not my favorite book ever, but pretty good. I have some problems with the relationships (i.e., I have problems with any book that founds relationships on infatuation/soul-mate-hood, and the prose initially kept leaning towards a Twilight-esque "He's dangerous!" sort of vibe that was off-putting for multiple reasons, but that wasn't still happening by the end). And it's a bit violent. Other than that, not too shabby.

Book: 2

Year of the Flood

I just finished The Year of the Flood, by Margaret Atwood. First finished book of the year!

Thoughts: Interesting. I might have actually liked it more than Oryx and Crake, but I don't think I would have enjoyed it very much at all if I hadn't read Oryx and Crake first, if that makes any sense.

Atwood has a thing for screwed up childhoods and terrible mother-child relationships-- and distant, absent, or inattentive fathers.

Also, a fascinating look at the nature of a cult.

On to the next book!

Book: 1.

2011 - What I Can Remember

Today, I finished Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, after meaning to read it for quite some time. I picked it up yesterday and finished it this evening. I told Adam that I wished I'd kept better track of what I'd read in 2011 because I can't remember everything. So, I'm going to try to keep better track this year with this blog. It's not meant to generate reviews or recommendations, just to keep track of what I'm reading.

I'm going to try my best to list what I did read last year, and maybe I'll edit and add things as I remember them. I might share thoughts if I think about it, or if anyone is really curious, but for the most part I'll try to stick to writing more thoughts about books as I read them this year, so the reaction is fresh.

The following list, for reasons already mentioned, is in no particular order rather than chronological.

2011:

A Song of Ice and Fire series, by George R. R. Martin

This includes: A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, and A Dance with Dragons.

The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss

The Wise Man's Fear, by Patrick Rothfuss

Pride & Prejudice, by Jane Austen

Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen

A Jane Austen Education, by William Deresiewicz

Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

With the Light: Vols. 1-2, by Keiko Tobe

Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones

The Hunger Games Trilogy, by Suzanne Collins

This includes: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay

Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Suzanna Clarke

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach

Death Comes to Pemberly, by P.D. James

Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro

Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes

Deja Dead, by Kathy Reichs

Deadly Decisions, by Kathy Reichs

The Fall, by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

EDIT: The Mind's Eye, by Oliver Sacks

Started, not finished for some reason or other:

(Some, I mean to get back to, some I'm still reading.)

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, by Hayao Miyazaki

The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson

Island in the Sea of Time, by S.M. Sterling

Darcy on the Hudson, by Mary Lyndon Simonsen

One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, by Jean Lee Latham

Persuasion, by Jane Austen

The Year of the Flood, by Margaret Atwood

EDIT: Gray Matter, by David Levy

EDIT: In Praise of Stay-At-Home Moms, by Laura Schlessinger

So, both lists are incomplete, but you can see that I went on both huge fantasy kicks (a good year for fantasy!) and Jane Austen kicks. I'm going to finish Persuasion, soon, and I want to finish reading her work this year. That was 2011 for me, though, and I'm sure I'll think of more stuff. And then I'll start posting titles and brief thoughts as I finish books this year. I'll have to mull over this a bit to choose favorites or highlights. Hmm.