The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander

( 80 ) The Chronicles of Prydain, book 3

For a book claiming to be about the growing up of Eilonwy, she wasn’t in it nearly enough and when she was she played the uncharacteristic role of damsel in distress. Love Llyan, but overall this is my least favorite of the series.

Teaser Tuesday – BBW Edition – The Decameron

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read

• Open to a random page & post two (2) consecutive “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

It’s Read a Banned Book week and I can’t post a quote from my banned book, Brokeback Mountain, because I listened to it. I’ve been working for days on a comprehensive list of banned titles sourced from all over the web, so for today I picked another banned book.  I’m not currently reading it, but I wanted to use a banned book for today’s Teaser Tuesday.  I wanted to use Heinlein, but so far the only Heinlein on my list is one of the few I don’t own   Truthfully, I’ve never read the book today’s tease is from, I inherited my copy from my grandmother, so I have no idea if this will be a spoiler or not.

“So she, who was no doctor, although her husband was one, felt certain he was dead. No need to ask if she was in distress, since she loved him as much as she did.”

p. 254, The Decameron by Boccaccio

Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx

( 79 )

Okay, so this is at best a novella, but really just a short story. Overall, I liked it. It was a tragic love story, only instead of the lovers being from opposing families they were a socially unacceptable pairing.

Sort of.

I wish it had been longer, truthfully. The story is told from Ennis’ perspective 90% of the time, but you never really know, except for their brief reunion the first time they saw each other after the summer at Brokeback, how HE felt. Jack was obviously conflicted, but far more comfortable with his attraction to Ennis than Ennis was with his attraction to Jack.

The ending felt incomplete. I wanted to know how Ennis got on, how he lived with himself, whether he ended up dying alone.

Th language is a bit crude in a couple of places, but it suited the characters–60’s ranchhands and all. It was lyrical and sweet, in a way that let you know this would not end well far more often than it was crude.

Would I let me daughter read it? Not yet, but eventually, yes.

The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander

( 78 ) The Chronicles of Prydain, book 2

Darker than the last one, and harder.  Deals, gently, with the idea of noble sacrifice, both of items and lives. Still good after all these years.

My Banned Book: Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx

I chose this one for several reasons:

• I happen to already have it on audio (from the library)
• It’s relatively short and my TBR list is anything but short.
• This one makes me proud to live in Austin, even if my kid doesn’t attend this school (see below).
• I never wanted to see the movie because of all the fuss—maybe now I will.

(The below is from the 2005-2006 ALA pamphlet listing banned and challenged books for the previous year)

Proulx, Annie. Brokeback Mountain. Scribner. Retained at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Austin, Tex. (2005). The private school returned a three million dollar donation rather than submit to the donor’s request that the short story be removed from the school’s list of optional reading for twelfth graders.

That, well, that is just frickin’ cool, I don’t care who you are.

The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander

( 77 )  The Chronicles of Prydain, book 1

I read this series back in 8th grade and loved it. I was looking for the rest of Isabel Allende’s children’s series when I noticed that the library had all five Prydain books on the shelf. Now they’re on my shelf

I enjoyed this just as much as I did when I was in junior high. More, probably, since I have a finer appreciation of Eilonwy’s odd speech habits (something I doubt I noticed the first time around) and a mom’s appreciation of how clean and decent an adventure it is. It is a big adventure, but told in a slender volume and with almost of the violence taking place “off camera*”.

With luck, once J is finally ready to start digging into books with no pictures I’ll introduce her to the series. Even though I am trying not to inflict my reading preferences on her. Or cringe too much when she asks me if there is a new Fashion Kitty book out yet :-S

*Do you know what the literary equivalent of this term would be? We know there was a battle and fighting, and a tortured prince and whatnot, but it’s not described in detail in the course of the narrative.  If you know a better, bookish way to express this sentiment, please leave a comment and let me know.  Thanks!

Read a Banned Book Week

September 26-October 3, 2009 is Read a Banned Book week.

Today I’m trying to decide WHICH banned book to read. I was going to read “TTYL” since it was banned locally in Round Rock, Texas, earlier this year, but all the copies were checked out at the library. I consider that a triumph for free speech, and may even donate a copy to the Round Rock library (it was challenged in Round Rock schools, not the library) just to thumb my nose at the censors.

Of course I let my kid read comics and watch superhero and monster movies, so what do I know about protecting children (over half of all book challenges are initiated by parents) from harmful ideas?

Want to read a banned book, too?  Check out the lists of the top ten most challenged books in recent years:

2008 / 2007 / 2006 / 2005 / 2004 / 2003 / 2002 / 2001

Want more to choose from? How about the 100 most challenged books from 1990-1999?

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) has a great resource guide for banned books week.

Finally, check out the searchable database of banned and challenged books on the Beacon for Freedom website.

(update – that was a useless database, for me at least. Try the ABFFE list instead.)

Wonder Woman: Eyes of the Gorgon by Greg Rucka

( 76 )

I liked this one better than the last and can’t wait to get to the next volume.  I’d write more, but it’s hard to judge a continuous story arc in the middle. And I have 46 (I took some back!) library books to get through. I’m thinking read more, review less right now.

I need help.

In my defense, a great many of those items (10 or 12) belong to the girl and 6 were CDs.  Still… A little scary trying to keep track of all of them!

Kingdom of the Golden Dragon by Isabel Allende

( 75 )      The Journeys of Jaguar and Eagle, book 2

Translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden

A much faster read than the first book in this series, and, frankly, one with substantially less content.

It idolizes the isolated parts of the world and demonizes capitalists (with a gently pointed caricature of a certain software billionaire). It reveres mysticism at the expense of logic, and involves a ridiculously convoluted plot among the bad guys.

I’ll keep reading them, since I’m 2/3 of the way through the trilogy, but would not recommend this volume. Here’s hoping book 3 is better!

Wonder Woman: Bitter Rivals by Greg Rucka

( 74 )

I keep this my (mostly) book blog and a personal blog. Sometimes I forget what I’ve mentioned where. My 8yo is a bit of a reluctant reader. She’s a fantastic reader, literally off the chart the elementary school uses to measure their reading, but a largely disinterested one. We have a heckuva time finding things that catch and keep her attention long enough for her to finish a whole book.

2 weeks ago she spent 4+ hours in her room reading all the way through Jodi Picoult’s “Wonder Woman: Love and Murder“. I read it last year and was comfortable letting her read it. When she ran into a word or even a concept that didn’t make sense she came and asked me to explain and we talked about it.

Naturally, the first thing I did was hop on the library website and reserve every Wonder Woman graphic novel I could find in the catalog (except George Perez’ — I tried to read it last year and was so disappointed in the artwork and the script that I abandoned it).

“Bitter Rivals” was one of three I picked up today, and, it appears, they are sequential books in a large story arc. That J-girl won’t get to read. Yes, I let her read comics where people have physical fights (we both dug “The Hiketeia“) and we discuss the unreality of it and how it’s not okay to treat real people that way, etc.

The story itself is one we could discuss, but… There’s a multi-page torture/rival exposition scene  that ends in death—followed by a sex scene. I’m reading the rest of the story arc, but she can’t. It’s a shame, really, since, currently, the only thing she will sit down and read through is comics (way to go reaching reluctant readers!) but this one was just too far over the line. I made Raidman read it, too, to make sure I wasn’t being overprotective and he agreed with me.

It IS an awesome story arc, though, and I am looking forward to finishing it.

Unhappy Medium by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

( 73 ) Suddenly Supernatural, book 3

This was cute, and introduced a few more social issues common to teens — the 2nd book in the series was a little light on this, though the first one did a good, light-handed issue intro, too.

Again, though, it moved too fast in time, all Dan Brown again. I understand the time constraints a little better in this one, since the haunted vacation only lasted a week, but still… Problem intro’d 1st day, solved by end of 2nd day, end of book.  It was a little disappointing.

I LOVED Madame Serena and hope she’ll make an appearance again in this series.

As a side note — book 2 ended with the MC resolving to tackle a specific problem she was unsure how to handle and I was a bit annoyed that the resolution to that issue was not mentioned in either book—I hate dangling plot points.

Still, good book and safe to listen to with my 8yo – a BIG plus in my book since I am rarely alone in the car to listen to a book…

Teaser Tuesdays – The Secret of Lost Things

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read

• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Tease?

“At least you had one, I thought, but didn’t say. My own self-pity struck me as sentimental when I was with him, and his seemed an extraordinary admission.”

p. 155, The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay

City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende

( 72 ) The Journeys of Jaguar and Eagle, book 1

Translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden

Surprisingly high-minded and bloody all at the same time. The male MC in this series is 15. That usually means it’s aimed at an audience around 11-15yo since most kids like to read about characters older than themselves. I was surprised by the quantity and seeming casualness of the violence in this book.

It was a good story, with a not-even-remotely-concealed politic message about protecting indigenous peoples (a goal I agree with), but a rough read for YA.

Frankly, I find Allende very long-winded. Everything of hers that I’ve read has been translated by the same person, and I can’t help but wonder if the excess verbiage is a result of the author’s intent, the translator’s craft, or just that English doesn’t have the right words for some of the ideas originally written in Spanish.

Whatever the reason, this was a hard YA read for me. BUT, the plot was entertaining (though the characters were largely caricatures) and I’ll definitely read the next one. I just don’t know that I’d recommend them to a kid under 13, preferably 14. Yes, I’m old-fashioned and naive. Let me be.

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On a totally separate note:

Someone found this blog today by searching for (not a joke!) “inkheart erotica.”

Can I get a WTF?!? *shaking head* I guess it takes all kinds…

Scaredy Kat by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

( 71 ) Suddenly Supernatural, book 2

I hate to say it, especially THIS of all weeks, but…

This sequel to a cute YA paranormal was rather Dan Brownish.

I say that because of the pacing. One of the things that annoys me the most about Dan Brown (who tells an entertaining and tightly plotted story, not necessarily a well-written one) is that these huge books of his, all 300+ pages, are compressed into a very tiny window of time in the book. Usually 72 hours of plot time or less. It’s a little exhausting, and makes the suspension of disbelief, at least for me, a real challenge.

That was my problem with Scaredy Kat, too. Kat spent months just barely coming to grips with her talent, then does amazing things and faces her fears and saves the day in less than a week over Spring break and still has time for coffee & pastry breaks with Jac.  On a side note: coffee?! for 7th graders? I may be being naive here, but WTF?  Soda I could see, coffee not so much.

‘Course, back when I was in 7th grade there were no Starbucks (Starbuckses? Starbuxes? Any ideas on the plural form of Starbucks?) on every corner with super-sweet-so-even-your-kid-will-drink-it coffee drinks, so maybe I’m just out of touch with today’s youth.

Other thing that bugged me was the 10yo ghost. Who acted like a 5-6yo.

I live with an 8yo, so I have a pretty solid grasp of what this age is capable of, I can still recall 5-7 pretty vividly, and I can only imagine and wonder at what my now 8yo will be doing when she’s ten. I’m pretty sure it will involve little to no play with matchbox cars, marbles, and other simple toys. She doesn’t have any male friends who still play these games at 8, let alone 10.

That said, I enjoyed the heck out of this one too. I sound mean because what stuck out most were the things that took me out of the story, so that’s what I talked about. I’d definitely recommend it, like the previous book in the series, to anyone with a girl (8-11 I’d say) interested in otherworldly fiction (sorry, sexist, but these are definitely girly books) that you want to shelter from the sex and violence of most teen paranormals for a little longer.