Library Loot!

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

Man oh man, it has been a loooong time since I’ve done one of these. I feel like I still have books with me from my last library loot post… fail :/ Oh well, here-ah we gohh!

1.) Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood – I have started this one and am unsure of where it’s going. I can tell that it is somewhat post-apocalyptic, but the how and why seems fuzzy. I’ve heard it’s rather creepy and dismal… I can’t wait.

2.) The Golden Compass – Philip Pullman – This was on the recommendation of Lu. I think I’ve seen the movie but can’t remember. I think there’s something about a polar bear and a bunker out in snowy snow land?

3.) Anansi Boys – Neil Gaiman – YES. I checked this out when I checked out American Gods thinking I would read them back to back but then all my very popular holds came up for me, so I had to prioritize. This one is next methinks, though.

4.) Beguilement – Lois McMaster Bujold – I have been looking for a good fantasy series to start and found this one while browsing the library. I’ve read one of the authors other works, The Curse of Chalion, and found it to be pretty good, so I figured I’d give this one a try.

5.) Jango – William Nicholson – The sequel to Seeker– I just want to see what happens!

6.) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson – Just one of those books I’ve seen everywhere, so I may as well give it a go

7.) The True Story of Hansel and Gretel – Louise Murphy – I’ve seen it around the blogosphere with some pretty great reviews, so I figured ‘why not?’ I’ve just been putting it off because I feel as though I’ve been inundated with WWII/Holocaust things.

8.) Life Among Savages – Shirley Jackson – Shirley Jackson.

Okay, well that’s where it is! I am trying to read as many as I can before December 12th, so I can return them all before I go home for Christmas break. I just don’t like carrying them around in another city in case they come unavoidably due, and I am 3 hours away from the library. ANYWHO, I hope all your weekends are fabulous! Latin Convention is today, so I will be geeking out just a little bit.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas – John Boyne

Berlin 1942: When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance. But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.

I don’t really know where to start. I guess the first thing to tell you is that this book is categorized as YA. It was really interesting to see how the author portrayed the whole situation so as to make it understandable to a younger audience. It was simply written (the book was told through the observations of 9 year old Bruno) and yet there was so much more to be told. Reading it as someone who has previous knowledge of WWII and the Holocaust, as most other adults do, it was interesting to be able to read behind Bruno’s thoughts. It was interesting to see how he sometimes missed the point– such as calling Auschwitz ‘Out with’. I sometime felt that Bruno missed the point too much at times though. Such as the fact that he didn’t know the meaning of ‘Heil Hitler’ and the Fatherland– things I would have assumed he would have been taught especially with having a father who is a commandant. Maybe I am mistaken.

“Heil Hitler,” he  said, which, he presumed was another way of saying “ Well, goodbye for now, have a pleasant afternoon.”

It was definitely a different story from all other Holocaust stories I’ve read. For one, it took place outside the camps and secondly, it was told through the eyes of a commandant’s son. It was especially interesting to see how Boyne portrayed the Nazis. In most of the other Holocaust novels and memoirs I’ve read (I took a seminar on the topic during my freshman year), the prisoners were shown as  having a sort of inner conflict about their captors (Stockholm Syn.?). There seemed to be a duality problem– are the officers men or are they monsters? Are they just doing their jobs or do they, such as Mengele, enjoy doing what they do to the prisoners?

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was quite different from this. Bruno, a non-Jewish boy, sees the Nazis at the camp as being monsters– there is no conflict in how he views them. It just struck me as odd.

The book was a different experience for me. I was rather so-so about it until the end, somewhat like with The Awakening by Kate Chopin. While I knew what was going to happen before it happened, it was still absolutely frightening. I saw it play out in my head. I could see the realization of what happened dawn on the rest of the characters in the book, and it was heartbreaking. It was another one of those ‘They are evil so should I feel sorry for them?’ scenarios. It was just horrible. I finished reading it in the morning and the rest of my day just had a funky feeling about it. I thought that I had been desensitized of such things but apparently not. I’ve been to visit Dachau so I could imagine the inside of the camp– the insides of the gas chamber, the barracks, the fence, the smokestack. Maybe that’s what made the novel so much more real to me…

I’ve never seen the movie version of this story. The whole time reading it I kept thinking how it would be so much better as a film. I am going to have to rent it to see if I’m right. It just seemed as though it would play out so much better as a movie– the little nuances throughout the book would be much more clear.

I also liked the comparison of life inside the camp to outside the camp– how Bruno’s childhood naivety was almost comical in how wrong it was. It was like watching a train wreck. It was just interesting to see how ‘the fence’ played a part in the two boys’ relationships and how their lives were similar if only on surface level.

It’s a short, depressing read. Don’t read it if you’re not in the mood to be a funk! Quite sad and yet very meaningful. I just couldn’t get over the one dimensionality of the Nazis and the uber-naivety of Bruno. I mean, of course I know they did awful, awful things but I am so used to reading about the monster vs man problem. :/ I don’t know how to say it without sounding like an awful person, haha. Have you read this? What do you think about the portrayal of the Nazis? Did you notice it at all?

B – = The end saved it. It tied it all together with one huge, depressing bow. A nice addition to Holocaust lit, but I’d like to see the movie to compare.

2010 YA Reading Challenge!

It is time, my friends, to sign up for another reading challenge! This next one is the YA Reading Challenge from J. Kaye’s Blog.

Dates: January 1st 2010 to December 2010

What: Read some YA novels! I think I am going to go for the Just My Size portion with a goal of 25 YA books for the year.

I will make a list of books as I find them and/or read them! Go join, too! YA = close to yay!

Teaser Tuesday

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!

 

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

Until I rescued her from rusty oblivion, my trusty old threee-speed BSA Keep Fit had languished for years in a toolshed among broken flowerpots and wooden wheelbarrows. Like so many other things at Buckshaw, she had once belonged to Harriet, who had named her l’Hirondelle: the swallow. I had rechristened her Gladys.

–72

Seeker – William Nicholson

This first novel in the Noble Warriors sequence begins when sixteen-year-old Seeker’s older brother is publicly humiliated and–with no explanation–exiled from the Nomana, a revered order of warrior monks. Seeker refuses to believe that his beloved older brother is capable of committing a betryal that would warrant such severe consequences, so he sets off alone on a journey to rescue his brother and find out at last what really happened. Along the way he meets two other young people who are on quests of their own, and in a shocking turn of events, the three are soon caught up in a harrowing and bloody race to save the Nomana–and themselves–from destruction. An epic coming-of-age story about courage, friendship, desire, and faith, Seeker marks the beginning of a riveting new series.

So I’ve been looking for a good new YA fantasy series to start, and this one caught my eye at the library. The concept sounded pretty cool, and I was desperate for an easy, quick read. I got it.

The book was good. I really enjoyed reading it. It was good, but it wasn’t thatgood. I felt entertained the whole time. The world created was clever and new, but it wasn’t whole. There were two main cities and varying parts in between, but it was a little blurry

The characters were nice. The three main characters were substantially different than all the others. They had different thoughts, came from different places, had different motives.

The story was consistent and quick. There was a problem, it was resolved, and there are more problems that need to be resolved now that it has ended. It was energetic and there was action. It seems like there might be a little romance in the next book, too.

I don’t know. I liked it. I liked it enough to take out the second book in the series– I want to see what happens next. I guess it is just one of those ‘read next week’ books.

B = It was good. Give it a go if you’re looking for something quick and easy.

Little Bee – Chris Cleave

WE DON’T WANT TO TELL YOU TOO MUCH ABOUT THIS BOOK. It is a truly special story and we don’t want to spoil it. Nevertheless, you need to know something, so we will just say this: It is extremely funny, but the African beach scene is horrific. The story starts there, but the book doesn’t. And it’s what happens afterward that is most important. Once you have read it, you’ll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don’t tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds.”

That is the publisher’s description. I don’t really know how I feel about it. I mean, I can understand where they are coming from, but I don’t think that it is something so extraordinary that when you finish it, you think ‘WOW, I shouldn’t tell my friends about it because they will miss out!’ Anywho, I will give a little less cryptic description:

There is a beach scene and what happens there makes for the whole story. A girl from Africa makes her way to England seeking refuge. She has the address of one English couple ,and she heads out to find them. There is tragedy in both of their lives and together they attempt to over come it. There, while still cryptic, at least you know about the general story! If I gave you anymore it would ruin it.

Now, it was a good book. When first opening it I was a bit hesitant– the writing seemed a bit heavy to me. I quickly got used to it and was very happy that I did. Cleave created such interesting characters. They all had such different personalities– both naive in different ways and almost opposite to what you would think they would be naive in. The teenage refugee, Little Bee, knows of death and awful things yet she is unversed in what a pop culture girl is. The older woman seems to be a little more naive in the death category (she has experienced it but not like Little Bee), but she knows what a teenage girl should know– dating, dresses, etc. They were all very likeable.

I liked Little Bee because she was so constant, she added a great baseline for the story. Sarah was a bit more unpredictable, but it was needed. Bat Man, Sarah’s son, gave some great comedic relief. I laughed out loud at some of the things he did! I almost felt bad about it because many times when you should have been crying, you were laughing because of his antics. He thinks he’s batman… ’nuff said.

With all of their differences, they were held together by their tragedy. They each experienced something different, but they helped each other get over their respective troubles. The story is toted as one about refugees- one in which a refugee girl is helped by an English woman who needs help herself. While it is a story about these things, it is so much more. There are so many elements that I think mostly everyone can relate to at least one of them. It is super depressing, I cried multiple times. It is gruesome. It is funny. It is annoyingly ‘what were you thinking?’ It has death. It has new life. It has injustice. It has hope. It has a child dealing with death. It has murder. It has suicide.

The only problem I had was with the ending. It was good, but it wasn’t an ending-ending. It wasn’t even one of those endings in which you realize that it isn’t a closed ending, but it was okay because it makes sense with the story. I felt as though I was just left hanging. I could guess as to what could happen. I could find meaning in it. I just wasn’t satisfied– I am American, and I want a complete ending damnit! :p

A- = A great story about loss and hope focusing around an African refugee. A depressing and yet funny read.

Teaser Tuesday

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!

 

Oryx &  Crake : Margaret Atwood

Along the road is a trail of objects people must have dropped in flight, like a treasure hunt in reverse. The fugitives must have had hope, to begin with. They must have thought they’d have a use for these things later. Then they’d changed their minds and let go.

–226

Addendum :

So, as said in my Sunday Salon post, I am looking for a movie scene of PTSD during the Civil War. While I haven’t been able to find one particularly showing someone with the disorder from the Civil War, I have found this:

I mean, I got chills from it & I can see how one would develop Soldier’s Heart. What do you think?

Sunday Salon

Hello all! I hope your week has been fabulous. I had the luxury of having nothing to do this weekend. It was super nice. For the past, oh, many, many weekends my life has been kinda nuts. From RaT to birthdays to Halloween, there has been very little time for R&R. While all those events were amazing and fun, it has been nice to lounge and do school work at my leisure.

Today I got halfway through preparing a presentation on PTSD from Herodotus to the Civil War. I’ve found some pretty sweet pictures, but I am having trouble finding a scene from a Civil War movie that depicts some form of PTSD. If anyone knows of any, let me know… please! I think I might have to watch Cold Mountain in hopes of finding some. (Oh darn, I have to watch Jack White be all awesome and stuff. My heart is breaking.)

Along with this, I have been a brownie baking queen today. My research group and I are using baked goods as an incentive to get fellow students to come participate in our experiment. I mean, free brownies? Who wouldn’t say yes? Well, probably a lot of people, but were just going to pretend that that isn’t true.

Anywho, my main point of writing this Sunday Salon is to tell all of you that I am participating in the Holiday Swap! I am super stoked– I love, love, love getting mail, and I like buying gifts for people as well. Here are the details if you haven’t seen anything about it yet:

You have until November 12, 2009 to sign up, so if you want to join, sign up now! Basically, you sign up, give a few suggestions as to what you would like to receive, and after the deadline is up the elves will send you who your secret santee is! You can go here to find out more detailed information. They have a nice FAQ section for all those other questions like price range etc.

I am super stoked. Who doesn’t like gifts?

Are you participating?

Unwind – Neal Shusterman

In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would “unwind” them. Connor’s parents want to be rid of him because he’s a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev’s unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family’s strict religion. Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance. If they can survive until theireighteenth birthday, they can’t be harmed — but when every piece of them, from their hands to their hearts, are wanted by a world gone mad, eighteen seems far, far away. In Unwind , Boston Globe/Horn Book Award winner Neal Shusterman challenges readers’ ideas about life — not just where life begins, and where it ends, but what it truly means to be alive

The last book I read for RaT. It was most definitely my favorite, by far.

After The Hunger Games and The Knife of Never Letting Go, Unwind was a really nice change. There were still teenagers, it was still dystopian, and still awesome. Neal Shusterman created a very new world in the same world we see today. There were no weird advances in technology, no total annihilation of the government, no huge, society killing wars… or wait, maybe there was that one. Anywho, I liked the idea, and I liked the way in which it was executed.

The book was a fast and intense read that was absolutely terrifying. The thought of giving one’s child up for parts is horrifying and you can definitely see it in the story. Each character has a different story and yet they all share the prospect of this awful end. They help and hurt each other. They use each other to survive. And it makes a great story.

Just another great addition to the dystopian genre.

A = Yayy for body part harvesting! Read it!