a year of classics, update number 2

The end of a another quarter? Already? It's time to check my progress on Classics reading for this challenge.

I've made a few changes from my original list, but I'm getting there. A few good classics are coming up in book club over the next quarter, too, and that helps. If you click on the link, it will take you to my original review.

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper - a young adult novel about a boy who realizes he has very special powers, it rings of Harry Potter

Much Ado About Nothing - fabulously comical play by William Shakespeare about two people who refuse to be in love with each other. If you are going to read Shakespeare, this is a GREAT place to start

The Pearl by John Steinbeck - I was supposed to read Cannery Row, but this one arrived from bookmooch first, so there you go. Hopefully I will still get to it this year because you can't loose with Steinbeck. This one is set in Mexico and is about the consequences of greed. It was a short one :)

The African Queen by C. S. Forester - I read this one because I loved the movie with Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, it's a tale of a spinster and a mechanic making a river journey in Africa (surprise). Classic.

Review: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay is the third book in the Hunger Games trilogy, so if you have not yet read the first two books, this book won't mean as much to you. I highly recommend them both, so go begin there, so I don't spoil anything for you.

I should start off by saying that I couldn't put it down. Suzanne does a fine job, once again, of creating a suspenseful story with plot twists that keep you guessing. Katniss is now in the hands of the rebellion (and in the company of Gale, once again), having been rescued at the very end of the previous book. Peeta is now a captive of President Snow in the Capital. The ultimate question is how the rebellion will go about its war business, where will Katniss the Mockingjay fit into their plan and what about PEETA, for Pete's sake?

I think this might be kind of spoilerish down here, so don't keep reading if that will bother you....



Having finished it hours ago and mulling over it a bit, I'm finding myself less satisfied than I was when I was about half way through. Katniss spends so much of the book being...not herself. Being depressed. Being injured and drugged. Hiding away from those who need her. I recognize that maybe this is Collins' way of portraying one's reactions to the horrors of war (oh, and there are horrors, let me tell you) but I think that by removing Katniss's consciousness from us so often, Katniss felt removed and distant. By the end, she wasn't resonating with me as much as she had in the other two books. I think in my head I kept wanting to tell her to "wake up and join us!!" I wanted her to step up into that hero role that was so wonderfully created for her - and in some ways, she did. There are some very satisfying and intense scenes where I really enjoyed seeing Katniss do what she does best: think on her feet and do right without doing it because it's "right." But it seemed like as soon as she made any kind of effort, she sank back down into oblivion again.

As a politically charged book about revolutions and the costs of war, I think it clearly illustrates that no matter what side wins or looses - in war, we all loose. I'd say it's probably the most violent book I've read that could be considered "young adult," but while I nearly had a tear once during one particularly horrific scene, it was never actually shed, which surprised me. Maybe the climax felt like too much and yet not quite enough at the same time. At any rate, I'd still recommend the trilogy but with the caveat that the last book probably won't be what you think.

book 24 of the 2010 Young Adult Challenge

Review: Salt by Maurice Gee

genre: young adult

What is salt? No one really knows what they mine in Deep Salt, all people know is that once you're sent there, you never come back. When Hari's father is captured by Company cronies, Hari will do whatever it takes to get him back - even if it means going to Deep Salt himself. Pearl on the other hand, she IS Company, but wants out of that cushy life. She and her extraordinary maid are determined to get out of the city -but escape is as challenging as they'd feared.

What do these two young people have in common? How do their paths cross? What is the terrible thing that is about to be unleashed on their world? I sure enjoyed the answers to those questions, in fact, this was a very intriguing read. Part Lord of the Rings and part Romeo and Juliet - it's great fantasy. While it moves slower than The Hunger Games and has a less romantic plot, I'd say it reverberates with that same adventurous, political feel. It's a very moral and conscience-based book, a good basis for some ethical discussion.

For those who are interested, it's the first in a trilogy, but for me, it stands well enough on its own.

book 6 of 8 for the Orbis Terrarum Reading Challenge (New Zealand)
book 24 of the 2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge

Review: The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani

genre: historical fiction

In the Blood of Flowers, we are transported to 17th century Iran, into the life of our unnamed narrator. With the death of her father, she and her mother are put into a very precarious situation and when the food runs out, they finally must rely on the charity of their extended family. Not only must they move to the city - to the brilliant Isfahan, jewel of Persia, but they must live as second class citizens in their own household. Our narrator's love of carpet making is slowly encouraged as she is also forced to choose between a degrading life and a life of just plain hard work. Not much of a choice.

This is the second time I've tried reading this book. The first time it didn't grab me from the beginning, so I put it down, but THIS time, I found myself quickly enthralled with the time period and customs of the story. Our narrator is rash - talented yet too quick to make important decisions and more than once, the consequences are severe. But she always means well and I kept reminding myself of how young she was to have such heavy responsibilities. I liked reading about her interactions with her world - the intricate and beloved process of carpet weaving and the layers of rules about clothing and social status. The author weaves in several authentic Persian poems and stories into the narrative and while sometimes I rushed through them, other times they added to the flow of the action.

I ended up really liking it. I liked the journey of our narrator and the conclusions she came to about what she really wanted for her life. Several rather steamy scenes in the middle might turn off some readers, as our narrator learns about her own version of "married" life and tries to decide what makes her most happy. As a piece of historical fiction about a fascinating and ancient place, I enjoyed this read.

book 5 of 8 for the Orbis Terrarum reading challenge

Review: Numbers by Rachel Ward

genre: young adult

For Jem, every person she meets, every person she sees, they come with a number. It took her a while to figure it out, but that number is the date that person is going to die. Period. For any regular person, this knowledge would make life extremely stressful and complicated, but Jem's life isn't even regular. It's pretty dang horrible. Shuffled from one foster home to the next, she's created a tough shield of "couldn't care less" and she's effectively enabled herself to go through life not feeling close to a single person.

The cards change, though, when another outsider refuses to be blown off and Jem slowly begins to let someone under her skin. Together they witness an event that changes everything and suddenly Jem's racing against a clock that only she knows is ticking.

This was an interesting, fast-paced read. Poor Jem, you know there is so much hurt under all her scorching hardness. I liked the twists this book took and the ending threw me for a loop. I can't lay my finger on the reason why I wasn't thrilled - maybe the climax felt a little too much like a television miniseries. I think it's a great premise and an intriguing enough read, just not my favorite.

If you are interested in the content of the books I read, you can check them out over at Rated Reads.

book 22 of 25 for the 2010 Young Adult Challenge

Review: African Nights by Kuki Gallmann

genre: world literature/short stories

I have never been to Africa. I have never felt a desert breeze in my hair or fallen asleep to the shuffling of elephants or the breathing of camels. But now, having read African Nights, I feel like I have.

Kuki's love of Kenya - its people, animals and customs, shines through each tale like a blistering sunset. Her stories are of Africa's bounty: the vistas she has climbed, flown, boated and rode to view and the vast diversity of its wildlife. For the most part, though, she celebrates Africa's people and their gracious interactions with her family. Her gift for detail makes each herdsman and trader, each man-of-all-work and friend as fleshed out and observable as the neighbors on my street.

She's an eclectic one, to be sure. I was constantly amazed by what she was brave enough to do and the pets she allowed in her home - she truly sucks the marrow right out of life. The thread throughout this book that was most impressive to me is that Kuki's love of her adopted country is able to persist so strongly despite Africa's brutality: the sometimes savage nature of its native peoples, its climate that can evaporate the life right out of the land and its animals that can deal death in an instant. Kuki embraces it all with an almost otherworldly grace. And yet, she so deeply mourns the loss of those that Africa has taken from her that the stories from her memory feel almost cathartic - joy mingled with intense pain.

Kuki sometimes seems rather flower-childish, a little too "out there," with her wall-less retreat on the savanna and monkey pets, which might be annoying. For some reason, though, it didn't bother me. Maybe it made me feel more like I could believe that all her stories truly happened. I can't call this a page turner because it took me longer to read than any book in recent memory. It's more like a journey - a photo album of snapshots in the hands of an amazing storyteller - and we get to vicariously go along for the ride.

book 4 of 8 for the Orbis Terrarum Challenge 2010