For this month's BAM Challenge I went with the "light reading" interpretation of the theme and chose Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris. It is quick, seasonal, and funny. This small book is a collection of Christmas-themed short stories of widely varying themes and lengths.
My favorite was probably "SantaLand Diaries", an account of the narrator's experience working as a Christmas Elf at Macy's. "Front Row Center with Thaddeus Bristol" was a hilarious review of Christmas pageants at area elementary schools. And of course, there is the ever touching and seasonal "Dinah, the Christmas Whore."
Sedaris's humor is frequently rather dark. Luckily, I like dark humor and if you don't, you may find some of the stories a bit distasteful. "Season's Greetings to Our Friends and Family!!!" is a Christmas letter detailing family dysfunction that culminates in a baby being put through a laundry cycle. Similarly dark, in "Christmas Means Giving" two families compete to be the most generous at the holidays just to one-up each other, and take it to a rather grotesque extreme.
I think pretty much every story in this collection is a warning against taking the holidays too seriously, which is sage advice. Definitely a departure from traditional holiday fare.
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This is the last Book A Month Challenge of the year, and I managed to post a review every month. Hooray! I don't know if it's being continued next year, but I think one of my goals for 2009 will to have fewer "assigned" books. There are so many books I really want to read that it seems a shame to read anything else. But stay tuned for more book reviews - I'm a bit behind in posting about some of the great books I've read recently!
Showing posts with label BAM Challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BAM Challenge. Show all posts
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
November: Giving
Notes from the Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick was perfect for the BAM Challenge theme this month (thanks for the suggestion, Christi!) but it was also just an all-around great young adult novel. I'm so glad I read it!
Struggling with his parents' divorce, Alex is at a particularly low point one evening when he gets drunk and drives over a neighbor's lawn gnome. He is sentenced to community service and must spend 100 hours with a cranky old man at a local nursing home. But as he gets to know Solomon Lewis, he becomes more invested in the home and begins to plan concerts to entertain the residents, and ultimately stays on for a summer job. Through the time he spends with Solomon, he also gains insights into his own problems and becomes more adept at dealing with issues in his personal life. This is a great story of personal growth that avoids being overly sentimental. The writing is witty, the characters are likeable, and it's a super quick read!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
October: Haunting
I haven't been in the mood for horror, so for this month's BAM Challenge I opted for a book that is haunting in other ways.
Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried is a collection of stories about his experiences in the Vietnam War. Part fact, part fiction, they are woven together in such a way that it feels more like a novel than a short story collection. It doesn't matter what is true and what isn't; the important part of this book is the general feeling of that time and place, and the author does a fantastic job of conveying that. The characters, and the author, are haunted by their experiences, and you will be too.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
September: Change
I have not ever finished the BAM Challenge book this early in the month, but I had been dying to read Uglies by Scott Westerfeld so I started it on September 1st and finished it today. I may have previously mentioned my love for YA books, and this book did not disappoint! I only wish I had planned better so I could have started the second book in the series immediately, but alas, I need to wait for a library copy.
Uglies takes place in a future society in which everybody is made pretty through surgery when they turn 16. The idea is that if everyone is pretty, nobody will feel bad about themselves and because of this equality society will be peaceful. Tally is just a couple of months away from her 16th birthday when she meets Shay. They have both been left behind by friends who have already turned 16 and moved to New Pretty Town. As they become friends, Tally learns that Shay does not want to undergo the operation to become pretty. When Shay runs away to join a band of outlaws, Tally is forced to go after her and expose their settlement to the authorities so it can be destroyed. If she doesn't, she cannot undergo the operation herself: she must either forego becoming pretty, or betray her friend.
Though this book was a very quick read considering its hefty size (425 pages!) it touched upon a number of great themes, such as beauty, friendship, sacrifice, and environmentalism. The characters are likeable and the premise is fascinating. It is fast-paced, vivid, and completely enthralling. The next books in the series are Pretties, Specials, and Extras. I can't wait to read them!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
August: Cold
The idea behind this month's BAM Challenge theme is that we must all be sick of the heat and want summer to be over. I happen to like summer and the heat, though this August has been unusually cold and rainy and distinctly unsummerlike. Not in the mood to read about cold weather, I went with the bone-chilling meaning of "cold" and read a horror book, 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill.
This collection of short stories range from creepy to vaguely unsettling to merely odd. None of them, however, were the sort of story I wanted to read late at night in bed. The scariest story was the first one, "Best New Horror" in which an editor of an annual horror anthology tracks down the author of an outstanding submission (a terrifying story within a story) and his visit to the author's house was weird and scary and has stuck with me like the final scene from Blair Witch Project.
In "Pop Art," a great example of a surreal (but not scary) story, we meet Arthur, an inflatable boy who must be constantly vigilant as he is vulnerable to an array of dangers that could cost him his life.
The collection ends with the 50-page novella "Voluntary Committal" in which an autistic boy builds elaborate structures out of cardboard boxes in his basement, structures which are very different on the inside than the outside. Though I'm not usually a fan of longer short stories, this one was worth every word and I did stay up late reading in bed to finish it. It was a bit creepy, and it was late, but despite myself I couldn't put it down.
There was a hopeful aspect to many of these stories, as some ended on a more positive note than horror stories typically do. Joe Hill is not only creative and original, but his writing is solid and effective, not relying on gore or sheer terror for momentum. He far surpasses most of the horror I grew up on (with the exception of his father, Stephen King, whose style is so different I won't bother to compare them.) This isn't genre reading really, it is just great storytelling. Hill has also written a novel Heart-Shaped Box which I'm putting on my list to read.
This collection of short stories range from creepy to vaguely unsettling to merely odd. None of them, however, were the sort of story I wanted to read late at night in bed. The scariest story was the first one, "Best New Horror" in which an editor of an annual horror anthology tracks down the author of an outstanding submission (a terrifying story within a story) and his visit to the author's house was weird and scary and has stuck with me like the final scene from Blair Witch Project.
In "Pop Art," a great example of a surreal (but not scary) story, we meet Arthur, an inflatable boy who must be constantly vigilant as he is vulnerable to an array of dangers that could cost him his life.
The collection ends with the 50-page novella "Voluntary Committal" in which an autistic boy builds elaborate structures out of cardboard boxes in his basement, structures which are very different on the inside than the outside. Though I'm not usually a fan of longer short stories, this one was worth every word and I did stay up late reading in bed to finish it. It was a bit creepy, and it was late, but despite myself I couldn't put it down.
There was a hopeful aspect to many of these stories, as some ended on a more positive note than horror stories typically do. Joe Hill is not only creative and original, but his writing is solid and effective, not relying on gore or sheer terror for momentum. He far surpasses most of the horror I grew up on (with the exception of his father, Stephen King, whose style is so different I won't bother to compare them.) This isn't genre reading really, it is just great storytelling. Hill has also written a novel Heart-Shaped Box which I'm putting on my list to read.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
July: Independence
A review of Lord of the Flies by William Golding
A group of British schoolboys are stranded on an island, presumably after a plane crash, and in their struggle to organize some sort of society, they instead break into factions leading to violence and death. Kind of like Lost. This fits the Book a Month theme of independence very well, as it is a rather harsh coming-of-age story of young boys who suddenly must survive on their own. Thinking of the month's theme, one cannot help compare them to a newly-forming nation made up of unruly, misguided people.
What this book lacked was context. There was a discussion among the boys about being saved in which someone mentioned a bomb and how nobody was around to save them. Were they on the plane because of the war? Were they escaping from something? Was a school trip? Why did it crash? And who were they before this happened? Not knowing anything about their background, they are all blank slates on the island.
In the notes, I read that Golding intended the story to be entirely symbolic. He wanted to show that the individual is what determines the direction of society, regardless of what sorts of organizations or governments are in place. The boys on the island were a microcosm of what was going on in the world - in the midst of their war they are saved in the end by a sailor with the Royal Navy who was involved in a larger war. Golding asks "But who will save him?" While this commentary adds some depth and context to the book, I can't help but be disappointed by any novel which requires reading author comments or other criticism to have an idea of what it is actually about. Without that, it's still a decent story, but rather two-dimensional.
A group of British schoolboys are stranded on an island, presumably after a plane crash, and in their struggle to organize some sort of society, they instead break into factions leading to violence and death. Kind of like Lost. This fits the Book a Month theme of independence very well, as it is a rather harsh coming-of-age story of young boys who suddenly must survive on their own. Thinking of the month's theme, one cannot help compare them to a newly-forming nation made up of unruly, misguided people.
What this book lacked was context. There was a discussion among the boys about being saved in which someone mentioned a bomb and how nobody was around to save them. Were they on the plane because of the war? Were they escaping from something? Was a school trip? Why did it crash? And who were they before this happened? Not knowing anything about their background, they are all blank slates on the island.
In the notes, I read that Golding intended the story to be entirely symbolic. He wanted to show that the individual is what determines the direction of society, regardless of what sorts of organizations or governments are in place. The boys on the island were a microcosm of what was going on in the world - in the midst of their war they are saved in the end by a sailor with the Royal Navy who was involved in a larger war. Golding asks "But who will save him?" While this commentary adds some depth and context to the book, I can't help but be disappointed by any novel which requires reading author comments or other criticism to have an idea of what it is actually about. Without that, it's still a decent story, but rather two-dimensional.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
June: Knowledge
June's BAM Challenge is a little tricky. One could argue that every book is either about knowledge or contains knowledge, right? But perusing the list of suggested titles, I saw a number of them were on the theme of secrets and Penny Vincenzi's Sheer Abandon fits that bill perfectly.
Three young women meet at Heathrow airport as they embark on a year of backpacking. They spend a few days together in Thailand and then go their separate ways, promising to meet up again a year later when they are all back from England. One of them - we don't know who - returns to England pregnant, has her baby in a cleaning closet in Heathrow and abandons it there.
Sixteen years later, the three still haven't met up again. Jocasta is a journalist with a commitment-phobe boyfriend, Clio is a doctor, and Martha is a high-powered lawyer moving her way into politics. Kate, the abandoned baby, has grown up into a beautiful teenager hoping for a modeling career and, more importantly, wanting to find her birth mother. Their worlds all begin to approach each other, amid much drama and scandal. Their lives are all affected by the secrets they keep from each other, and there are many interesting turning points in the story that come about because of what each character decides to share, and what they keep to themselves. This novel wasn't quite as literary as many of the books I read, but it wasn't exactly Danielle Steel either (no offense to Steel - I'll readily admit to reading all of her books in high school). Sheer Abandon is a great beach read, if you care to lug it there. But don't let the 600 pages daunt you - this is perfect summer fare.
Three young women meet at Heathrow airport as they embark on a year of backpacking. They spend a few days together in Thailand and then go their separate ways, promising to meet up again a year later when they are all back from England. One of them - we don't know who - returns to England pregnant, has her baby in a cleaning closet in Heathrow and abandons it there.
Sixteen years later, the three still haven't met up again. Jocasta is a journalist with a commitment-phobe boyfriend, Clio is a doctor, and Martha is a high-powered lawyer moving her way into politics. Kate, the abandoned baby, has grown up into a beautiful teenager hoping for a modeling career and, more importantly, wanting to find her birth mother. Their worlds all begin to approach each other, amid much drama and scandal. Their lives are all affected by the secrets they keep from each other, and there are many interesting turning points in the story that come about because of what each character decides to share, and what they keep to themselves. This novel wasn't quite as literary as many of the books I read, but it wasn't exactly Danielle Steel either (no offense to Steel - I'll readily admit to reading all of her books in high school). Sheer Abandon is a great beach read, if you care to lug it there. But don't let the 600 pages daunt you - this is perfect summer fare.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
May: Mother
The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond: a review
A photographer named Abby has recently become engaged to Jake, a single father and is trying to bond with his 6-year-old daughter. Abby takes Emma to the beach one day, looks away for a few seconds to take some photos, and when she turns back Emma is gone. Abby and Jake launch into a full-scale hunt for Emma, but the very few clues they have don't lead anywhere. The strain takes a toll on their relationship and the wedding is postponed indefinitely as their search continues with ever-dwindling hope.
I picked this book for the BAM challenge because the theme for this month is "mother" and I thought the book was about a mother who loses her child. Instead, it is a woman who hopes to soon becom a mother to a child, but instead makes a mistake and loses her. Abby is racked by guilt and questions why she ever believed she could be a mother when she can't even keep a child from harm. Woven into the story of her search for Emma are some of her childhood memories about her own mother and the rest of her family; meanwhile, Abby receives updates from her younger sister who is pregnant with her first child. There are many mothers in this story, and women who want to be mothers, and people without mothers. It fit into the theme for Mother's Day month even more than I expected.
For a large portion of the book very little is happening other than Abby's internal struggles and the impression that she and Jake are doing the same things day after day as the search for Emma stretches on for the better part of a year. But somehow it was strangely compelling and I found myself spending every moment I could spare reading this book. It was dismal, for obvious reasons, but also completely satisfying.
A photographer named Abby has recently become engaged to Jake, a single father and is trying to bond with his 6-year-old daughter. Abby takes Emma to the beach one day, looks away for a few seconds to take some photos, and when she turns back Emma is gone. Abby and Jake launch into a full-scale hunt for Emma, but the very few clues they have don't lead anywhere. The strain takes a toll on their relationship and the wedding is postponed indefinitely as their search continues with ever-dwindling hope.
I picked this book for the BAM challenge because the theme for this month is "mother" and I thought the book was about a mother who loses her child. Instead, it is a woman who hopes to soon becom a mother to a child, but instead makes a mistake and loses her. Abby is racked by guilt and questions why she ever believed she could be a mother when she can't even keep a child from harm. Woven into the story of her search for Emma are some of her childhood memories about her own mother and the rest of her family; meanwhile, Abby receives updates from her younger sister who is pregnant with her first child. There are many mothers in this story, and women who want to be mothers, and people without mothers. It fit into the theme for Mother's Day month even more than I expected.
For a large portion of the book very little is happening other than Abby's internal struggles and the impression that she and Jake are doing the same things day after day as the search for Emma stretches on for the better part of a year. But somehow it was strangely compelling and I found myself spending every moment I could spare reading this book. It was dismal, for obvious reasons, but also completely satisfying.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
April: Beauty
For this month's BAM Challenge I read Dinaw Mengestu's The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears, a novel about an Ethiopian immigrant who owns a convenience store in Washington DC. Sepha Stephanos is caught between two worlds. He cannot go back to the life he left 17 years ago, but neither can he move forward in his new life in America. He tries when he meets his new neighbor Judith and her daughter Naomi; he comes to look forward to Naomi's daily visits and hopes for a relationship with Judith. When he discovers that Naomi's father was also African, he feels as though Judith just wants to fill the space he left and that he cannot possibly do it. He is still very taken with her but they are unable to ever really come together. Meanwhile, tensions in the neighborhood are mounting with increased rents and the resulting evictions. Judith is threatened, and when her house is burned down she moves away.
Sepha's two close friends are also African immigrants. Joseph is from Zaire and Kenneth is from Kenya. Like Sepha, Joseph's father was successful, but they both have very modest lives in America. By contrast, Kenneth's father was illiterate but Kenneth is now a successful businessman who dresses in suits every day and in many way embodies the American dream. Sepha and Joseph both talk about Africa continuously but Kenneth tires of their nostalgia for home.
Many issues are addressed in this book and I see now why some cities have chosen it for their One City One Book programs. It is especially pertinent to certain areas, like Somerville, that are also struggling with issues surrounding immigration and gentrification. But it's not just a book about issues, it's a beautifully told story about a man who just wants to be happy and have a better life, which is something we can all relate to.
Sepha's two close friends are also African immigrants. Joseph is from Zaire and Kenneth is from Kenya. Like Sepha, Joseph's father was successful, but they both have very modest lives in America. By contrast, Kenneth's father was illiterate but Kenneth is now a successful businessman who dresses in suits every day and in many way embodies the American dream. Sepha and Joseph both talk about Africa continuously but Kenneth tires of their nostalgia for home.
Many issues are addressed in this book and I see now why some cities have chosen it for their One City One Book programs. It is especially pertinent to certain areas, like Somerville, that are also struggling with issues surrounding immigration and gentrification. But it's not just a book about issues, it's a beautifully told story about a man who just wants to be happy and have a better life, which is something we can all relate to.
Monday, March 24, 2008
March: Craft
Craft is the theme for the BAM Challenge this month, and while the theme is open to interpretation, I took the narrow view and read No Idle Hands: The Social History of American Knitting by Anne L. Macdonald. Spanning from early colonial America through the 1970s, the scope of the book extends well beyond just the craft of knitting - war, the changing role of women, fashion. Still, it is mainly of interest to knitters as that is the central focus, though I must admit there were craft references that even confounded me (What the heck is "picking lint"?)
The author used primary sources and quotes are used liberally throughout the book. For this reason, I found the chapter on colonial America the most difficult to read because of the style of writing from that period. But in general, it made the history seem more real as it was told through the words of those who lived it.
My favorite chapter was "Westward Knit!" which appealed to my love of all things remotely related to Little House on the Prairie. Here is described a method of dyeing yarn by first wrapping it in corn shucks to create gentle gradations in color. Also in this chapter was a story of a woman kidnapped by Narragansetts, who knit items of clothing for them to earn their food and good will.
Macdonald described the important role knitting played during wartime. A loyal informer to the army during the Revolutionary War would insert messages containing British military information in balls of yarn and "accidentally" drop them when General Washington's troops passed by. During World War I knitting for soldiers reached frenzied heights, spurring knitting bees where participants achieved such great feats as knitting an entire sweater in one day. Many men knit for the war effort as well, including prisoners at Idaho State Penitentiary, where two prisoners braided their yarn into a 25-foot long rope and used it to escape.
Some of the anecdotes in this book sound very familiar as a knitter today:
-Women who knit bathing suits, only to find out - in the most embarrassingly ways possible - that they were impractical for swimming.
-A knitter in the 40s, when argyle was very popular, described rigging a shoebox to keep different colored yarns separate to prevent tangling, which would have been useful for me a couple of weeks ago
-When patterns finally began to regularly include gauge information, many knitters simply ignored it, beginning our long tradition of not knitting gauge swatches even though we know we should
As a knitter, it is distracting to read a book about knitting. When I read about the constant sock knitting (two socks at a time, even!) during WWI and WWII I would suddenly need to put the book down and work on my sock; when I read about knitters finding ways to knit and read at the same time, I was inspired to scour the internet for a good book stand. Despite my inability to focus, it was a very interesting book packed with information - and photos! - of knitting throughout US history. Published in 1988, it doesn't contain knitting's most recent surge in popularity, and I look forward to seeing how some future book characterizes knitting and knitters in the 2000s.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
February: Heart
This month's theme for the BAM Challenge is heart; suggestions included romances, books about cardiology, and titles containing the word "heart," including a long-standing book on my To Read list, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Though the writing was somewhat inaccessible, this short novel was strangely compelling. The protagonist travels deep into the Belgian Congo, to a place so removed he likens it to entering prehistoric times. He is searching for Colonel Kurtz, who has gone over the edge, is killing for ivory, and living in a hut surrounded by human heads mounted on stakes. The strength of the story is not so much the plot but the atmosphere - whispering voices, the blur of running bodies just behind the trees, drums beating in the distances, and a vague sense of disorientation.
At the risk of sounding a bit less smarty-pants than I like to think I am, I have to admit that the entire time I was reading Heart of Darkness I kept thinking of Lost. The atmosphere is so similar: the whispered voices from nowhere, the crazy man who understands the jungle/island and doesn't want to leave, mysterious dark secrets just out of your grasp. Strangely, in last week's episode Sawyer referred to Locke as Colonel Kurtz, and then an article appeared in Entertainment Weekly comparing Lost with Heart of Darkness.
Is it a coincidence that I happened to be reading this book when these other events took place? Anyone on the island would say that it was fate...
"The horror! The horror!"
Though the writing was somewhat inaccessible, this short novel was strangely compelling. The protagonist travels deep into the Belgian Congo, to a place so removed he likens it to entering prehistoric times. He is searching for Colonel Kurtz, who has gone over the edge, is killing for ivory, and living in a hut surrounded by human heads mounted on stakes. The strength of the story is not so much the plot but the atmosphere - whispering voices, the blur of running bodies just behind the trees, drums beating in the distances, and a vague sense of disorientation.
At the risk of sounding a bit less smarty-pants than I like to think I am, I have to admit that the entire time I was reading Heart of Darkness I kept thinking of Lost. The atmosphere is so similar: the whispered voices from nowhere, the crazy man who understands the jungle/island and doesn't want to leave, mysterious dark secrets just out of your grasp. Strangely, in last week's episode Sawyer referred to Locke as Colonel Kurtz, and then an article appeared in Entertainment Weekly comparing Lost with Heart of Darkness.
Is it a coincidence that I happened to be reading this book when these other events took place? Anyone on the island would say that it was fate...
"The horror! The horror!"
Thursday, January 24, 2008
January: Time
Because I'm an over-achiever, I read not just one, but TWO books for the January Book-A-Month Challenge. Here are my thoughts on both of them.
Time Capsule: Short Stories About Teenagers Throughout the Twentieth Century edited by Donald R. Gallo
Each story in this young adult book represents one decade of the last century. Most of the stories were mediocre and oddly reminiscent of a middle-school English textbook. Some of them just didn't ring true to me and I don't know why. Maybe because those authors were writing about decades before they were born. Nevertheless, I found two of the stories to be outstanding.
"We Loved Lucy" by Trudy Krisher (1950-1959)
Nancy is caught up in the confusion of the Cold War and her father's obsession with building a bomb shelter. She escapes the doom-and-gloom of her household to watch "I Love Lucy" at her friend Brenda's house, where she is allowed to experience humor and laughter and just be a kid. Keeping her family a secret from Brenda is a challenge, and Nancy's struggles and conflicting loyalties feel realistic as a teenager's experience in any decade.
Second place goes to "Fourth and Too Long" by Chris Crutcher (1960-1969)
It is no surprise that Crutcher can capture what it is like to be a teenager. The main character in his story must decide between cutting his long hair and losing his place on the football team. What his coach doesn't understand is that his hair has nothing to do with rebellion and everything to do with hiding a disfigurement and finally fitting in with everyone else
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
In which a man is plagued by traveling through time against his will. His wife meets him for the first time when she is 6 years old, but he doesn't meet her until she is 20. I was confused by page 8. This should not come as a surprise given that I didn't even understood Back to the Future, and only tenuously grasped the episode of the Simpsons in which Homer time travels and keeps changing the future (you know, the one where it rains doughnuts).
However, I'm very grateful to the author for a couple of things. First, the premise that you cannot change what happens. There are no alternate universes here; you can visit the past, but you can't change it. Second, she makes it clear who is narrating by starting each section with "Henry:" or "Clare:" As someone who is frequently confused by shifting perspectives, I thank you so much, Audrey Niffenegger. There is nothing worse than suddenly realizing the narrator speaking isn't who you thought it was.
Despite the time travel, this is first and foremost a love story between two compelling characters. I just wanted to wrap myself in this book, it was so beautiful and sad.
Time Capsule: Short Stories About Teenagers Throughout the Twentieth Century edited by Donald R. Gallo
Each story in this young adult book represents one decade of the last century. Most of the stories were mediocre and oddly reminiscent of a middle-school English textbook. Some of them just didn't ring true to me and I don't know why. Maybe because those authors were writing about decades before they were born. Nevertheless, I found two of the stories to be outstanding.
"We Loved Lucy" by Trudy Krisher (1950-1959)
Nancy is caught up in the confusion of the Cold War and her father's obsession with building a bomb shelter. She escapes the doom-and-gloom of her household to watch "I Love Lucy" at her friend Brenda's house, where she is allowed to experience humor and laughter and just be a kid. Keeping her family a secret from Brenda is a challenge, and Nancy's struggles and conflicting loyalties feel realistic as a teenager's experience in any decade.
Second place goes to "Fourth and Too Long" by Chris Crutcher (1960-1969)
It is no surprise that Crutcher can capture what it is like to be a teenager. The main character in his story must decide between cutting his long hair and losing his place on the football team. What his coach doesn't understand is that his hair has nothing to do with rebellion and everything to do with hiding a disfigurement and finally fitting in with everyone else
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
In which a man is plagued by traveling through time against his will. His wife meets him for the first time when she is 6 years old, but he doesn't meet her until she is 20. I was confused by page 8. This should not come as a surprise given that I didn't even understood Back to the Future, and only tenuously grasped the episode of the Simpsons in which Homer time travels and keeps changing the future (you know, the one where it rains doughnuts).
However, I'm very grateful to the author for a couple of things. First, the premise that you cannot change what happens. There are no alternate universes here; you can visit the past, but you can't change it. Second, she makes it clear who is narrating by starting each section with "Henry:" or "Clare:" As someone who is frequently confused by shifting perspectives, I thank you so much, Audrey Niffenegger. There is nothing worse than suddenly realizing the narrator speaking isn't who you thought it was.
Despite the time travel, this is first and foremost a love story between two compelling characters. I just wanted to wrap myself in this book, it was so beautiful and sad.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
BAM Challenge
Have you seen the Book A Month Challenge? Each month there is a theme, with the idea that you pick a book on that theme, read it, and post a review on your blog. Included with the announced theme is a list of books on the topic, though you are free to choose your own.
I waited until January's theme was posted before deciding to take part because I had no idea how specific it would be. I didn't want to sign up if the themes were along the lines of "military training in 18th century France" or "the relationship between mental illness and artistic ability," but apparently it is much more open to interpretation.
The theme for January is time. I actually have two books on my To Read list that stand out as being appropriate: one is The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, and the other is Time Capsule: Short Stories about Teenagers Throughout the Twentieth Century. I've started reading the second title already, as it was available in the library, but if I finish early I may also pick up the Niffenegger book. It has been on my list for far too long already. You can look forward to a review on one or both of these books later this month.
I waited until January's theme was posted before deciding to take part because I had no idea how specific it would be. I didn't want to sign up if the themes were along the lines of "military training in 18th century France" or "the relationship between mental illness and artistic ability," but apparently it is much more open to interpretation.
The theme for January is time. I actually have two books on my To Read list that stand out as being appropriate: one is The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, and the other is Time Capsule: Short Stories about Teenagers Throughout the Twentieth Century. I've started reading the second title already, as it was available in the library, but if I finish early I may also pick up the Niffenegger book. It has been on my list for far too long already. You can look forward to a review on one or both of these books later this month.
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