Category Archives: Poll Winner Reads

January 1, 2012 · 8:00 am

Sarah Sunday – A Year in Review…

Hello, 2012!

Well good morning my lovely readers, and welcome to 2012! So, I wanted to do a bit of a reflection over the past year, both personal and bookish.

Sarah’s 2011…

This was the year of constancy. With the exception of the birth of my nephew L, there were no huge major changes in life. We stayed in the same apartment, no one has died, me and the honeyman both have the same cars as the year before. I’m still at my ACO job (the one where I’m basically a security guard), and the honeyman left a crappy job and now has a much, much better one. I picked up a second part-time job, that I may or may not stay at now that the holidays are over. The honeyman and I celebrated 4 years together over the summer, and we’re still crazy happy. Life has been pretty good.

So, let’s take a look at some of the more interesting stuff then, shall we?

In December of 2010 we learned that my little sister Amanda was pregnant! Woo hoo! We had her baby shower in June, which was kind of fun and my first real time helping in planning a baby shower.

Mom, preggo Amanda, big sis Heather, and me.

And in July, I finally got to meet my little baby nephew! Now for almost her entire pregnancy, Amanda said she was naming in Luis, which I thought was awful and decided I would just call him L for short. And then on the day that she had to take him home from the hospital, she changed her mind and named him Jariel. Which is so, so, so much worse, and since “el” is at the end of it, I decided to just keep on calling him L.

L looked like this when he was born :)

and now…

 

... and now 5 months later he looks like this. FATSO BABY :-)

 

In August, I unwisely decided to give red hair a try. It did not last.

Faded in about a week or two, went right back to blonde.

In October, I got my second tattoo!

LOVE IT.

And then the holidays hit, and life has been crazy busy.

Sooooo, looking back on 2011, here are some of the Sarah-things I want to work on in 2012:

~ Be less busy. Not off to a great start, since I just signed up to do a 72-hour work week at the end of January… But basically I need to find a way to be healthier. Since my job require me to basically sit in a chair for 36 -48 hours a week, I am soooo out of shape. And lately I’ve had the urge to go out and take walks, go to the gym, dance around, etc… except it always hits me at inopportune times, like when I’m at work or it’s late at night. It’s frustrating. So I need to find ways to be even a little bit more active. And for me, that directly correlates to how much more free time I have. Also, I need to SLEEP more before work!

~ TAKE MORE PICTURES! I have sadly realized that only a couple pictures of me and the honeyman together have been taken, and they’re not even great ones. Hopefully having an awesome camera on my new phone will help this.

~ Maintain weekly date nights. The honeyman and I have just recently started doing this again, since starting his new job we don’t have a lot of spare time together and want to make it a point to leave some time for romance. It can be hard though – considering that my job gets in the way of half of the week, and we already have a game night once a week, sometimes date night gets pushed aside and that sucks. So we’re going to try for at least 52 date nights this year! And if we can fit in more, even better!

~ Even though I’m already annoyingly busy… try to work on a social life. I hardly ever get to hang out with my sister Heather anymore, when we used to hang out several times a month. And I’m trying to forge more girl friendships… I feel like I’ve gotten out of my shell a little bit this year, and hopefully I can find those spare days or nights for more socializing. I’m a homebody by nature, and kind of a lazy friend, so this in particular will be hardest.

Sarah’s Bookish 2011…

So, I feel disappointed in my reading this year. Obviously I’m a little bummed that I wasn’t able to read more than I had in 2010, but I don’t think it’s just that. I decided not to partake in any challenges in 2011, because I wanted to focus more on re-reads. So I re-read the Harry Potter series, half of the Outlander series, some of the Fearless series, and a couple random novels throughout… But I didn’t get all of the re-reading that I wanted to do, because I started to feel a little guilty re-reading. Especially with the Outlander novels - those are my FAVORITE books, but they’re like 1000- 1500 pages each – they take about a week or more to read, especially if I’m busy. So instead I’d read other, shorter books in the interests of having some reviews to post more often.

Also, in February I started doing the monthly polls, in which I would post a list of like 4 to 6 books, and you guys would vote on which one you wanted to see me read and review. And while that was fun and led to me reading some great books… sometimes it wasn’t. Sometimes I slogged through a book I totally would have DNF’d because I wanted to give you guys the review you asked for. So even though the polls were of my own design, I think I started to feel trapped by them. Sometimes I pick a book to put on a poll because I think I should finally get around to reading it, and then I end up disappointed that it won, or I don’t feel in the mood for it anymore…. anyways, WHINE.

On the flip side, I did discover quite a few new authors that I enjoy and will be keeping an eye on for future releases. And I’ve realized that I really enjoy challenges, because they urge me to try new books and expand my reading, but kind of at my own pace, ya know?

So, there are really two changes I’ll be making to the blog this year:

1.  The February poll will be the last monthly poll for a while. The honeyman and I started reading 1 book together a month, and I think that’s really all of the “required” reading I can handle. Reading a year of poll winners was fun and different, but I’m putting it on the back burner for now.

2. I’m going to try to make my review format look a little neater… Maybe include IN the post the title, author’s name, year it came out, publisher, pages, etc… I’m not quite sure yet. I may also occasionally borrow the book descriptions from Amazon or Goodreads, because I often suck at trying to descibe a book in my own words, without giving too many spoilers.

 

And here are my BOOKISH goals for 2012…

~ Read what I want, when I want. I’m going to try not to fret over reading a really long book because it’ll mean less wonderful reviews here. I’ll just have to post random babbling posts instead ;-)

~ Try to read every single day. Even if it’s only 10 pages, or for 10 minutes. I hate that sometimes two or three days can go by and I’ve just been too busy to pick up the book I’m reading.

~ Start a quotes journal. It’ll be quotes from books and authors, as well as from tv, movies, people, etc… I just want someplace to physically write them down so I can look at them later.

~ Take more baths. Doesn’t sound reading-related, but I love to read in the tub. Hence more baths = more reading. Plus more relaxing. And maybe more wine…

~ Comment on blogs more. I’m a lazy blog reader. I MUST be less lazy about commenting, because I love getting comments, and you know. Karma.

~ Post more reviews to Amazon. Especially if it’s a newer, relatively unheard of author and I like their book.

So, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Bring it, 2012.

~Sarah

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December 20, 2011 · 1:38 pm

Interview with an author: Bob Eckstein, of The History of the Snowman

So as many of you saw in my review about two weeks ago, I really enjoyed December’s poll winner read, The History of the Snowman by Bob Eckstein. Bob is a cartoonist, journalist, humor writer, and the snowman expert. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Daily Post, Reader’s Digest, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, The Village Voice, and more. Well Bob was awesome enough to respond to my review and he agreed to do an author Q&A post with me! Very brave of him I might say, since I’ve never done one before. So here we are. Enjoy! (And also, click pictures to embiggen them.)

Bob Eckstein, author and snowman expert

 

When did you really decide to pursue researching the snowman? Did it start as a hobby, or did you set out with the intention of writing a book about him?

In 2000 I decided to write a book, a mystery in fact, after being asked by agents if I would be interested in being represented by them and writing a book. I was a columnist for TimeOut and Village Voice at the time and agents wanted to take advantage of the following I enjoyed. I didn’t want it to be a crime mystery but one that answered one of life great mysteries. Who told the first joke? Who made the first sandwich? I went with who made the first snowman after strolling the bookstores during the holidays realizing there were no good holiday books for all religions, nor any for adults aside from cookbooks or religious titles. I have always been fascinated with extreme cold weather and have a small library just on all things to do with the Poles. I was very lucky as I learned early on in my research that I had hit the jackpot and was entering territory no one had pursued before. Nobody knew the snowman had a history rich with sex and violence.

As for snowmen as a hobby, during my seven years of research I had collected valuable snowman antiques–I have about 800–but I saw them simply as clues to the puzzle.

Bob's snowman collection

 
 

You mention that you did a lot of travelling while researching the snowman – where did you enjoy travelling the most? Which journeys gave you the most beneficial research?

I think Bruges, Belgium is the most beautiful city in the world–the medieval homes, the canals and the sheer lack of modern times. One important stop I made was the beautiful coast of Iceland and visiting the place where A Journey to the Center of the Earth starts. It was a crossroads in my life for many reasons and just to share one, I eloped while I was there. 

The pivotal moment in my travels was in The Hague where in The Royal Library archives is the oldest depiction of a snowman, a tiny illustration in the margins of a medieval Bible. That period was very exciting and almost Da Vinci Code-ish. You’ll see what I mean from this excerpt of my notes…

“…my three-week journey to reach Professor Pleij began by plane and then a trolley to the Brussels city museum, where old maps charted the snowmen made in 1511 that Professor Pleij wrote about in his book, De sneeuwpoppen van 1511. Days later, an express train took me to The Royal Library at The Hague, where I met with experts to discuss the particulars of the first printed snowman in that historic, illuminated manuscript from 1380. I was also curious about any other snowmen that may have existed in their art catalog—the Royal Library’s collection of images is the world’s largest, at 8 million. I focused on the approximately 15,000 woodcuts, drawings, etchings, and paintings created before 1750 that were categorized as winterscapes, examining each suspicious mound of snow with a magnifying glass.

First recorded snowman

After I accomplished that arduous task, I hitched a ride to Amsterdam from an old friend who also acted as my Dutch translator. Once inside the city, I made my way to the university by foot. Our route took us past some of the city’s most popular tourist attractions: a quick peek in “The World’s Smallest Art Gallery” (the size of a closet), a brisk walk through the red light district and past its famed Banana Bar flanked by bikers offering coupons…and a hurried tour in Rembrandt’s house, where the famous artist went bankrupt, only a snowball’s throw from the center of the city.

Finally, I arrived for my long awaited appointment with Professor Pleij. As the leading authority in medieval cultural studies and, more importantly, snowmen in the Middle Ages, our lengthy conversation regarding my fieldwork was invaluable. At the conclusion of our meeting the distinguished professor gave me his blessing and declared he was passing the torch of “snowman expert” on to me. My Dutch friend documented the moment and our good-bye handshake with photographs and asked if I remembered where we passed the Banana Bar.

 

That trip sounds amazing! Okay, so what’s the most interesting thing you learned about snowmen in your research?

The snowman making is one of man’s oldest forms of folk-art. Man has always had a primal instinct to do two things. One, make a depiction of himself and two, have the urge to put one thing on top of another.

 Did you have any writing habits or superstitions?

I do have some advice for writers which I should follow myself more frequently. What is killing creativity in this day and age, are distractions in the form of iPhones, music, TV and all multi-tasking. This is why many say I get my best ideas in the shower. We have stopped being by ourselves and feel a need to constantly be entertained.

 

 I agree 100% – ever since I got a smartphone I feel like I spend half the day on it. How did you like the process of writing and publishing a book? What was hardest, and easiest?

It’s difficult financially without juggling other jobs and that keeps one from finishing their book. I have columns (Consumer Reports, Time, Inc), do ten cartoons a week (New Yorker) and do freelance illustration and all of those are necessary to pay the bills. Once you finish the book you learn that if you are truly committed to make the book a real player in publishing, then the work has just begun. Promoting the book is 80% of the job. Last year I did over 60 TV and radio interviews. I spent $1,000 on books I gave people that could help the book in some way.

The pluses outweigh the financial shortcomings (I did spend over $25,000 on the research and for the permissions rights in the book so it wasn’t until I sold over 30,000 copies that I started to enjoy a profit.). I received a lot of wonderful letters and feedback from people who adore the book. As for the process of writing, I’m like a Victoria Secret model–we both work in our underwear.

HA! I loved your cartoons and drawings sprinkled throughout the book – have you ever considered some sort of snowman comic strip, or a book of your collected cartoons?

Thank you! I decided to add an intermission in the book which I thought was a cool idea. It was the world’s best snowman cartoons. There were a couple of spaces to fill and I drew a couple of cartoons myself. After the book came out cartoon-great Sam Gross from The New Yorker invited me to their famous Tuesday lunch for my birthday. I had a great time and asked how I could get a part of the action and so I returned the following week with ten sketches under my arm. I sold my first New Yorker cartoon on the first try, which I was told never happens and I became a cartoonist  Since then I do cartoons regularly for Barron’s, Wall Street Journal, Playboy, Reader’s Digest, Funny Times, Salon.com, Narrative, Mad, America as well as the major magazines in Europe like Spectator, Prospect, Private Eye and The Oldie. And this year I was nominated Cartoonist of the Year by the National Cartoon Society. So I feel very lucky about that and one day there will be a Best of Bob (B.O.B.) box set e-book which will be interactive and include multi-media. But that’s on the back burner.

This month I ghostwrote the comic strip The Lockhorns and quit due to the lack of money there is in it. So no, there will not be a snowman comic strip. I do about 400 gag cartoons a year now so that easily fulfills my cartoon itch.

The B.O.B. box set sounds awesome, I’m looking forward to it! Speaking of, can you tell my readers about any upcoming books or projects?

I just worked on two books; a parody children’s book called Sarah Palin’s American History, which was shelved because she dropped out of the race. Maybe it will resurface later, it’s pretty funny. The second book I only illustrated; Bill Pennington’s On Parcomes out next year. Monday I begin illustrating a cookbook for Better Homes & Garden.  

The Sea Below Us

Next year I will finish my book The Sea Below Us, a humorous graphic novel that is a diary from 1850 based on the true story of searching for the missing Sir John Franklin in the North Pole. Even though it’s fictional, I researched this book for twelve years including spending one week on the Star of India in San Diego, the oldest working ship in the world and the model for Master & Commander. I will be drawing and reporting in live time at this year’s Super Bowl for The NY Times (I’ve been working for the Times for over thirty years. This year I wrote a story about my mid-life crisis.). Long term wise I’ve been working on a TV special based on the book which has bounced around from studio to studio.

I’m can’t wait to read The Sea Below Us, it sounds great! I’ll be eagerly awaiting a release date. So just out of curiousity, when did you last build a snowman?

Last year, it would have been during the last snowfall. Anytime I make a snowman now it, for better or worse, is a photo op for someone. That time it was a feature about me in The NY Daily News. 

 

Okay and to wrap things up, what three random things do you want your readers to know about you?

Well, if anything, I’d like to be known as nice person. In return I feel like I’ve gotten to know the nicest people and at the end of the day, I can’t think of anything more important.

Okay, fun facts. You want some fun facts. I’m guessing career-wise I have a few; I wrote an editorial for all three NYC newspapers on the same weekend in 2009 (Daily News, NY Post and New York Times’sports section). And one other one is in the eighties and nineties I was actually a media star of sorts in Japan. I even did a fashion spread there. An interview like this condenses the highlights of a career into a few paragraphs but for every success, every submission accepted, there were dozens of rejections and years of frustration. Bob Mankoff (New Yorker Cartoon Editor) told me the most important quality to being a successful cartoonist is dealing with rejection. So I want to temper all my bragging here with some humble pie.

Snowman humor.

Personally, ummm…I was once a tournament Scrabble player and I have Mel Gibson’s whistle from the movie Mad Max.

 Bob, I’d like to thank you SO MUCH for answering all these questions here today. I’m very grateful and had a lot of fun! And I look forward to all of your future work.

I encourage everyone to pick up Bob’s book – in fact clicking this link will take you right to Amazon so you can buy it right away. And if you’d like to know more about Bob…

Visit his website!

Visit Today’s Snowman for all the snowman news!

Pick up some decorating ideas via Bob’s Smartass Idea for the Home!

~Sarah

 

 

*I received no compensation for this interview, nor do I receive any compensation if you buy the book. I’m merely a happy reader trying to spread the joy.

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December 10, 2011 · 4:28 pm

The History of the Snowman by Bob Eckstein

Hey everybody! So, here it is, the December poll-winner: The History of the Snowman. (You should also check out the author’s official snowman site here.)

So, really the title gives the whole premise away – this book is one man’s quest to find out everything about the history of snowmen. In our modern America culture, they are a  HUGE winter theme – as soon as October hits, you can find snowmen all over the place – cards, napkins, gift wrap, little statues, yard blow-ups, on clothes, dish rags, paintings, ornaments – the list is never-ending. And while most of us have enjoyed making snowmen as kids, we never really stopped to learn about where the heck the idea for the snowman came from. This is Mr. Eckstein’s journey to learn everything he can about the history of snowmen, and though it’s impossible to ever know when the first snow man was made (since you know, they melt and leave no trace behind), it’s still a fun ride.

Bob’s book starts out with the most recent info about the snowman – which is that in this day and age, we like everything super-big (even snowmen), and that we’re lazy (which means we actually buy kits to put together snowmen) and from there the book goes backwards all the way to the cavemen days. While the beginning chapters about the last century were interesting, it was mainly about snowman sightings and evidence that the snowman is a hella big celebrity.

The later chapters, from about chapter 7 and onwards, is where I REALLY started to enjoy this book. While the modern-day snowman sightings were fun, the book starts to get more detailed, in-depth, and historical in the later chapters and definitely grabbed my attention. I had no idea that snowmen were made way back in the day as as form of social and political protest, or that many famous artists of those early centuries created snowmen works-of-art. Apparently making snowmen was the cool (haha, get it?) thing to do in the 1500′s, and it was actually a form of entertainment for people to take strolls through neighborhoods to see all the different bunches of snowmen that people made. I so wish that was still a thing! It’s sad that kids seem more into tv than going outside and making snowmen these days. I think I want to make a snowman this winter. I haven’t done it in years, but now I want to! For some reason there’s no snow on the ground yet, so I may have to wait a bit.

Besides all of the cool historical information and a bunch about history and culture that I didn’t know, the book is filled with pictures and illustrations of snowmen. I particularly enjoyed the snowman cartoons – one is a picture of a snowman with a note on the table, holding a blow dryer to his head – LOL reminds me of The Bunny Suicides, except a snowman!

So all in all, if you’re looking for a nondenominational, seasonal book that’s fun, interesting, and a quick read, you’ve found it! I highly recommend it. I’m off to go impress my friends with all my cool snowman factoids now.

Sarah Says: 4 stars

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Filed under 4-star, Christmas, Humor, Non-fiction, Poll Winner Reads

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November 10, 2011 · 9:03 am

A Visit From the Good Squad by Jennifer Egan

Dude, this book sucks.

I know, harsh way to start off a review. But this is why I relish being a book blogger that doesn’t receive books from publishers to review – I don’t feel the need to be nice about a book that I want to complain about all day long.

Soooo… This is basically a book of loosely-connected short stories about a bunch of people who grew up in the age of punk and rock music, so I guess back in the 70′s to 80′s. The general theme of the book is supposed to be “How did I get from where was I was to where I am now?”, which could be an interesting theme in any other book. Unfortunately, the answer for almost all of the characters featured in this book is “Because I’m a self-centered dumbass who did hard drugs and acted like a little asshole for the entirety of my young adulthood.”

The very first chapter was the most interesting – it focuses on Sasha, who’s in therapy to deal with her kleptomania (that’s a compulsive urge to steal stuff). I’ve never really ever seen kleptomania mentioned in a novel before, so I was definitely hooked and wanted to know more – but this is the only chapter that really focuses on Sasha, and she isn’t even a great character – she’s one of those emo young kids who is depressed and unhappy for no real reason. But still, it was a promising start. And then it IMMEDIATELY took a nose-dive in chapter two, where were meet Bennie – an aging man in the music industry in drinks actual flakes of gold in his coffee and for some reason can’t stop reliving every embarassing moment that’s ever happened to him. From there we meet a ton of other random characters who are all screwed up in similar ways and it got really old, really fast.

I read some reviews online that claimed this was such a heart-breakingly beautiful book about growing up and coming-of-age – no it’s not. Books like that are relatable to a wide audience. There is nothing relatable to the general public about watching your best friend blow some guy while he has his arm around you at a concert. That’s something only drug addicts and weirdos can relate to. How the hell did this get a Pulitzer prize?

Oh, and the big “Powerpoint chapter” was 50+ pages of boring slides, and to me definitely seemed like the author was just trying to be edgy. Which she tried to do throughout the whole book. But on the upside, those 50+ pages went really fast and hence I was able to finish this book quicker, thank goodness.

So yeah, I’m sorry to the people who voted for this book as November’s read, but this book is a huge ball of suck. And the fact that it’s so popular makes me think that maybe I’m just not intellectual or thinking deeply enough or something. Or maybe everyone else really likes to read about cocaine and whiny bums more than I do. It was like Holden Caufield in Catcher in the Rye, except like 20 Holdens and way more annoying.

And because I do feel bad about bashing this book so much because I know a lot of you liked it, here’s a far more positive review over at What Red Read. I’m trying to be all fair and balanced. (Barely succeeding there, I know.)

Sarah Says: 0 stars.

~Sarah

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October 31, 2011 · 10:39 am

Dear Readers: I Suck

Hey ya’ll. So as some of you may have noticed, the past two months have been CRAZY for me – I was working 60-70 hours a week, started a 2nd job, got sick for about a week, etc. I am so, so sorry for the lack of posting on this here blog, the lack of reviews, and also for my lack of blog-reading and commenting. There are times at work when I have some spare time to go online and catch up on my Google Reader, but I try not to do it often because I don’t want work to block my access to blog-related stuff. So again, I’m so so sorry and thank you SO MUCH for putting up with my madness.
 
On a happier note – my work schedule at my main job has gone back to normal, which means I’m back to my 36-48 weeks with more days off. YAY! I’m still working part time at Lane Bryant, which is usually only 4 to 8 hours a week and shouldn’t be too much of a hinderance in all things reading and blog-related. I’m really looking forward to getting up in the morning, making coffee, and reading blogs before I go start my day. It’s my favorite way to start my days off.
 
Now, for those of you that voted in October’s poll – as you can see, it’s the last day of October and I still haven’t posted my review for Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. That’s because I’m still reading it. I swore to myself that I was going to get it done early in the month, but I’m a giant procrastinator and kept putting it off because I haven’t been in the mood for a 1000 page book. I kept telling myself to save it for the readathons – which I did, but then proceeded to read other, shorter books to make me feel like I accomplished more. However I have started JS & Mr. N, and so far I’m enjoying it. It’s like Austen or some other old-timey author decided to write some quirky historical fantasy set in old England. Also, I’m reading it via audiobook and paperback so that I can read it as often as possible and hopefully I’ll be posting the review for you by the end of the week. I feel really bad that I haven’t gotten it read and reviewed for you guys yet, but I promise it’ll happen.
 
As my thank-you to you guys for being such awesome readers and for being so nice to me while I’ve been all hectic, I’m giving away a copy of Lola and the Boy Next Door.
 


To enter, just leave me a comment with a way to get in touch with you – preferably either via Twitter or email. Giveaway ends Friday the 4th. The winner will be chosen most likely by random.org, and I’ll contact the winner for the mailing address.
 
Again, thanks for being so awesome, and I’ll try to get JS & Mr. N read ASAP. You guys are the best!!!!

~Sarah

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September 26, 2011 · 5:05 pm

The Soldier’s Wife by Margaret Leroy

What what??? Sarah FINALLY finished a book to review here for you guys? Holy crap it must be a miracle. I am sorry to my lovely readers that I’ve been so crazy busy lately, but I feel SO accomplished that I’ve finally been able to finish a book. I’m actually at work now so hopefully it doesn’t get too busy and I can write this in peace.

So, as many of you probably know The Soldier’s Wife was the poll-winner read for September. It’s kind of marketed as historical fiction, but I don’t know if that applies so much now that I’ve read it…

So Vivienne is living in Guernsey with her two daughters and her mother-in-law while her husband is away fighting the Germans in WW2. Eventually Germans come and claim Guernsey, and Vivienne falls into a secret love affair with one of the German soldiers living next door, Gunther. Eventually she’s torn between the love she feels for Gunther and her desire to help some of the victims of the war.

Honestly, Vivienne and her kids get by pretty well. Her oldest daughter has a job, and Vivienne grows vegetables and raises chickens. Sure they have to ration, but there were constant mentions of the food she was able to put together and it made the occasional mention of how hungry they were unbelievable – they were able to eat something every day. Vivienne is getting by with her secret affair okay, and for a long time everything seems hunky-dory until Vivienne meets Kirill, one of the prisoners from the work camps. She has to try to balance helping this poor man with her love affair with Gunther and things go haywire from there.

That’s pretty much the gist of the storyline. I like Vivienne as a character – she tries hard to continue to feed her family, she’s resourceful, she’s compassionate, etc. Of course I felt some annoyance at her for cheating on her husband while he’s away at war – but it’s revealed that their marriage sucked and he was cheating on her, and I have to remind myself that it was harder to leave your cheating husband in the 1940′s than it is now. I also liked Gunther – we don’t see too much of him, but I like how quiet and courteous he is (though he’s also married… seriously, can’t authors think of anything better than people cheating all over the place?)

I feel very indifferent towards this book. It got boring at times, and it all felt very distant… I never really connected with the characters. I think it’s just not my type of writing style. There’s a lot of flowery, rambling descriptions of the landscape and stuff. Even though the book kind of raises some tough questions (Would you risk your family to help a stranger? Would you fraternize with the enemy? How can you raise your kids happily during wartime? etc.), it seemed to be lacking in-depth and substance and therefore could have been shorter. Even though I got impatient with it at times, I was able to read it in large chunks and finished it pretty quickly.

If you’re looking for a good historical fiction read, I wouldn’t recommend this. It’s much more the story of a middle-aged woman reveling in her affair and cooking food and raising her kids, and not so much about the big war that’s been brought to the island of Guernsey.

Sarah Says: 2.5 stars

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August 30, 2011 · 4:46 pm

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

With only a day to spare, here is the poll-winning read for August. I can’t believe it took me so long to get to it!

So, most of you may already know what S&S is about, but just in case here’s the basics. Sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are different as can be – Elinor is more reserved and calm, while Marianne is emotional and passionate. Both are unlucky in love, because Elinor is in love with a man already taken, and Marianne falls in love with a flighty, charming man. And through a lot of stress, social drama, and wit they both try to work towards their true loves. Ummm if you’re not already familar with the story, just beware I get a little spoiler-y from here on out cause you know, it’s a classic.

Soooo… I’ve seen the movie version of this a couple years ago (and I’m actually looking forward to re-watching it now that I’ve read the book). So I of course already knew the story the how it all works out, but I’m glad I read it. Now here’s the news that I’m sure will upset lots of Austen fans… this is my least favorite Austen novel so far. I only have one more to read, Mansfield Park, but so far I enjoyed this one the least. And I know that seems crazy, because it’s probably her 2nd most popular novel.

I still really enjoyed it because hey – it’s Austen. She’s a fantastic writer and she creates interesting characters. Elinor and Marianne are very different from each other, and each has their own admirable qualities. I REALLY liked the secondary characters in this novel – Mr. and Mrs. Palmer are great. Mrs. Palmer is excessively cheerful and happy, and Mr. Palmer is rude and grumpy. Mrs. Dashwood might be my favorite Austen mother so far – sure she was a bit overly emotional like Marianne, but she raised her daughters to believe in love and a happy marriage, not to “catch” a rich husband. She genuinely cared about her daughters and had some sense about her.

Okay now for the stuff that bugged me… I think that the romance here was really lacking. Elinor is in love with Edward Ferrars, but we don’t see much of Edward – and honestly the couple of times he pops up, he’s awkward. He’s a bad example of an Austen hero. Marianne falls in love with the dashing Mr. Willoughby, who turns out to be a complete dillhole – there was definitely some romance and flirtation between them, but it all falls apart. And later everyone is so willing to forgive Willoughby when he stops by near the end to try to rationalize his behavior. (Kind of reminds me of Frank Churchill in Emma.)

Now the thing that bugs me the most… I really like Colonel Brandon. He’s the hero that is actually around throughout a lot of the book, and who shows the most affection and romance even though he’s quiet about it. But here’s the thing – he’s in love with Marianne, but spends a whole lot of time with Elinor. Elinor mentions frequently mentions what a good man he is, even more often than her Edward. I’m kind of surprised Elinor didn’t fall in love with Colonel Brandon and vice versa. Anyways, whatever. That’s fine – Brandon and Marianne end up together, but their ENTIRE courtship and marriage get skipped over, and it’s mentioned in the last 3 pages that oh yeah, they’re married and living happily ever after right next to Elinor and Edward. Brandon is the biggest romantic in the book, but Austen skips over his love story. That was frustrating.

Anyways, this is still a good book and a worthwhile read, and I’ll probably re-read it some time down the road. It was just near the end that this little things started to build up and bug me.

Sarah Says: 3 stars

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July 24, 2011 · 3:45 pm

DNF: Barefoot by Elin Hilderbrand

Ahhh… my very first DNF post. Normally, when I decide to quit a book I just don’t bother reviewing it. After all, I didn’t finish it so how can I give it a fair review? I’m doing it now because this is one of the books that won my July poll. I had actually been looking forward to this book for along time; the premise sounded interesting, and I’ll admit it – the cover totally lured me in.

Basically, three women (along with two little kids) go to a beach house on Nantucket to try to escape their problems for a bit and get themselves sorted out. Vicki is a married mother of two young boys, who just found out that she has lung cancer. Brenda (Vicki’s sister) was recently fired from her job as a professor for having a relationship with one of her college students. And Melanie (Vicki’s best friend) after being told by her husband that he’s having an affair, learns that after years of trying she’s finally pregnant. These women meet a young college student named Josh, and together they all try to heal, and enjoy their summer on Nantucket.

That’s a whole lotta drama, but it all sounded really interesting. Now, I only got through the first 100 pages (book is about 400 pages), so here’s why I’m stopping…

1. All the characters sound the same, including Josh. And there aren’t really any chapters, so when the story was switching points of view among the characters it was really confusing.

2. One-fourth of the way in, and I have to say that I don’t like any of the characters. Vicki strikes me as really negative, self-centered, and kind of stuck up. Melanie is acting like a doormat – her husband confesses to an affair, and instead of raging at him, kicking him out, and divorcing him, she wallows in self-pity and he moves into the guest bedroom. And while I kind of like Brenda for saying what she’s thinking and being honest with herself, I can’t sympathize with her too much because of course she caused her own problems.

3. The book (well, at least what I’ve read) occurs for the most part in each character’s head – they’re thoughts and responses to what’s going on. And yet whenever something interesting started to happen, like two of the women arguing with each other, it was glazed over.

That’s pretty much it. I don’t mind books about tough issues, but this just wasn’t for me. It was at turns boring me and annoying me.

Anyways, for those of you that voted for Barefoot… sorry. But July’s almost over, and I have a lot of other books I want to get to. I don’t want to spend my time dragging through this one. I am open to trying something else by Elin Hilderbrand though, if anyone has a favorite by her that you can suggest.

Since giving this one up, I decided instead to start Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. I’m about half-way through it, so that review should be up in a day or two.

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July 14, 2011 · 4:44 pm

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

I finished this book last night (and for those of you who voted, this was one of the poll winners for July). I’ve been having trouble trying to fit all the fabulous-ness of this book into an articulate review, but I’ll try.

So the book is about an airplane of 50 Miss Teen Dream pageant contestants flying overseas for a photo-shoot and whatnot, and then their plane crashes on a remote island. The prologue does an AWESOME job at describing the moments before the crash, as well as establishing that the U.S. is run by “The Corporation” and they kind of rule everything, and they want to promote a vain, materialistic, dumbed-down society.

At first the girls all seem stupid and annoying, though funnily so. There are about 12 to 15 survivors, and the majority of them are more worried about practicing their routines than trying to survive, because they’re convinced that they’ll be saved soon enough. (I know, I know. It sounds just like Lost. They even make a funny reference to Lost in the book.)

The chapters are interspersed with “fun fact sheets” about each of the main character survivors, as well as glimpses into some members of The Corporation and some really hilarious commercial interruptions. Soon the characters realize that rescue is taking too long and they start to take a more proactive role in trying to survive – building huts, finding food and water, etc. And we learn more about each character – her history, hopes, dreams, feelings, etc. There’s a lot more to these girls than you’d think, and they start to bond over they’re struggles to survive as well as their feelings about pageanting and being a girl. How they feel like they always have something to apologize for, or always feel the need to be the absolute best. How their parents push them to pageant. They develop a strong sense of togetherness, and together they have to battle like hell to make it off the island.

I grew to genuinely like all of the main characters, but in particular my favorites were Adina, Tiara, and Mary Lou.

This book is basically a kick-ass promotion of feminism. It takes satirical jabs at society and the way marketing in the media is aimed at girls to make them feel too skinny/fat/ugly so that they buy more and more products. It makes fun of pop culture and reality TV. The book tackles tough issues for younger girls such as being gay, being transgender, feeling stupid, the idea of a girl needing to be “pure”, racism, self-esteem, female bonding, safe sex, etc. But Bray does all this in such a great way. It’s a really fun read, but at the same time it’s thought-provoking and smart.

Anyways, I can go on and on about how much I enjoyed this book. It was so good that when I finished, I wanted to skim through it again and relive all my favorite parts. I tweeted lines that struck me as amusing while I read. And this will definitely be one of the next books that I buy. It’s already on my re-read list for next year. I hope it can make it permanently onto summer reading lists everywhere.

So, you know. Go read it.

Sarah Says: 5 stars. Awesome.

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June 19, 2011 · 8:48 pm

>The Violets of March by Sarah Jio

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Okay, where to start? This is a lovely debut novel by Sarah Jio, and one of the poll winners for June’s read. I really enjoyed it.

The Violets of March centers on Emily. An author with a severe case of writer’s block and now newly divorced, Emily decides to spend some time healing at her great-aunt Bee’s house on Bainbridge Island, WA. As she uses the peace and sound of the sea to clear her mind, she stumbles upon a secret diary from 1943. The diary tells the story of Esther, and Emily is sucked into the story as she notices more similarities between the diary and her own life. I really can’t say much about Esther’s story, because I don’t want to spoil anything.

There were so many things I liked about this novel. I loved the double story-line; while getting to know Emily, I also got to read Esther’s story. And I have to say that the writing is beautiful and mystery of the plot stays with you even when you put the book down. I love books that take place on cozy islands, and this is no different. The sounds of the sea, the descriptions of gardens, of friendly neighbors and small local shops… it’s all so idyllic.

Emily is a great main character. Besides her being sweet and honest with herself, I noticed that she’s also a foodie – the book goes into detail about food when mentioned, and Emily always admits to unabashedly digging in. It’s such a small detail, but I really liked that about her. I really liked the secondary characters too – when I’m a little old lady, I want to be spunky like Bee and her friend Evelyn.

The only thing about this novel that I wasn’t crazy about was Emily’s romantic interests. Once on Bainbridge Island, she’s asked out a bit and I never really warmed up to the man that she found herself attracted to. And while I really like a bit of romance in books (I’m a sap), Emily did just get divorced before she comes to the island. It all happened a bit too fast for my taste.

Anyways, this is a great novel and probably perfect for some pretty, mysterious beach-reading. I’m really glad that it’s one of the novels that won the June poll :-)

Sarah Says: 4 stars

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