Reassessing the books I liked ; Abusive relationships in fiction

I've read and liked the Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey series.  And now I don't.  Once the negative aspects of the main characters' relationships were pointed out to me, I no longer liked the books.

After reading more about abusive relationships in romance literature, I'm realizing that I do not read romances as deeply as I do other literature.  When it comes to romance literature, I read them as fluff and do not invest as emotionally or intellectually in them.

Because the knight-in-shining-armour theme is so prevalent, I will say that most women like it when the man protects them.  They like to feel safe, knowing that the man will save them.  The Twilight series takes this theme too far.  Yes, it's a fantasy series and probably wouldn't get away with half of the stuff it does if it were not fantasy.  The amount of danger that Bella is always in, therefore needing to be protected and saved, (I hope) is unrealistic even when you take away the fantasy element.  

I am not interested in BDSM and so I have no interest in a relationship like the one in Fifty Shades.  I also am not a submissive and would not tolerate a relationship where I must do everything I'm told or be punished.  That's what my father was like and I'm glad I'm now an adult.  But even those in the BDSM lifestyle are not impressed with the series: Sophie Morgan, author of "Diary of a Submissive" wrote an article for the Guardian).

If you Google "Twilight" or "Fifty Shades of Grey" with "abusive relationship" you get a lot of results, many of which are well written.  I highly recommend "The Trouble With Prince Charming Or He Who Trespassed Against Us".

And so now I've been rereading other romance books I've loved and reassessing them.  Call me naive or cynical but I just don't believe the "in love forever within days" storylines.  Although the rest of the story and the writing may be very good, it is this instantly-in-love aspect that I can't agree with.

Read on,
Paula

"Let's Pretend This Never Happened" by Jenny Lawson

Synopsis: Jenny Lawson realized that the most mortifying moments of our lives—the ones we’d like to pretend never happened—are in fact the ones that define us. In the #1 New York Times bestseller, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, Lawson takes readers on a hilarious journey recalling her bizarre upbringing in rural Texas, her devastatingly awkward high school years, and her relationship with her long-suffering husband, Victor. Chapters include: “Stanley the Magical, Talking Squirrel”; “A Series of Angry Post-It Notes to My Husband”; “My Vagina Is Fine. Thanks for Asking”; “And Then I Snuck a Dead Cuban Alligator on an Airplane.” Pictures with captions (no one would believe these things without proof) accompany the text.

My review: WARNING: Do not eat while you are reading this book!  It may cause you to choke on your food from laughing too hard.

I would say that this is the funniest book I've read so far.

This book made me feel so much better about myself and my life.  Because I am not as insane as the author.  My life is not as insane as the author's life.

Some of the scenarios depicted in this book would NEVER happen to me.  Like the snake thing.  Because no amount of money, begging, or love could convince me to go anywhere near the subject of one of my biggest phobias.  Same goes with spiders.  Seriously, some of the things Jenny describes in her book made me truly grateful for where and how I live.  I don't have to deal with a lot of the things she has.  My own life has not lacked drama but none of it to the scale that Jenny has dealt with.  Reading this book made me appreciate my own individuality and my life's current lack of drama.  My family is bland in comparison to hers so I have no right to complain.

I'm sure a lot of the things she writes about in her book were not funny at the time she was living it.  But she has written about them in a way that shows that she seems to be one of those people who can laugh off things once their over.  It's a good way to live and I'm working on being able to do that myself.  Despite some harrowing experiences, her "mostly true memoir" is pretty damn funny.  I laughed and snickered and chuckled a lot while reading this book.  I would totally recommend you read this book if you're feeling down or unhappy with your life.  Oh, and spoiler alert: she owns that mouse on the cover of the book.

Read on,
Paula

Dealing with squeamish content

A coworker and I were discussing the impact that language and writing style can have on your enjoyment of a book.  I also find that language and writing style impact what I can tolerate reading.

I am a squeamish person with a healthy imagination, therefore I can't watch horror movies.  However, because of the language and writing style, I had no problem reading the graphic details of the experiences of a burn victim in "The Gargoyle" by Andrew Davidson.  And I mean graphic.  The details of what happens to your skin when it burns, the medical process of trying to heal a burn victim.  Yeah, so grateful that isn't me.  But it's because of the writing style, the somewhat-detached tone of voice of the main character, that allows me to read it.

The same goes for "The Resurrectionist" by James McGee.  The book is about the history of the study of anatomy.  Therefore, there's dissection and the digging up of dead bodies.  And I (the squeamish person) found it to be the most fascinating and enjoyable book of the whole Matthew Hawkwood series.

I don't like to read murder mysteries/police procedurals for this squeamish reason.  The few that I have read have not had the language and writing style necessary for me to distance myself from the graphic content.  I also intentionally avoid them to happily maintain my naiveté.

Read on,
Paula

Ebook happy dance

It took two years but my BlackBerry Curve 9300 is finally compatible with my library's OverDrive software.  As long as the books I download are epubs, I can read them.  I did a happy dance yesterday when it all worked out...despite my phone model being on the incompatible list.  But considering the size of the screen on my phone, I'll do my searching on my computer instead of wasting my monthly bandwidth limit on searching for titles that may or may not be available.

Yes, yet another way for me to access more books.  Dangerous...

Read on,
Paula

BTT: Format

Format (from Booking Through Thursday)

1. Do you prefer to read hard cover or paperback books?

2. Why?

3. Do you read books in the other format anyway?

I will read any format.  Hardcover, paperback, ebook...whatever way I can get my hands on a book, I'll read it.  I have no preference because both formats have their advantages and disadvantages.  Paperbacks are generally lighter and floppier for laying on a table to read without holding them; but they get so easily damaged transporting between work and home.  They are flimsier.  Hardcovers are sturdier, more durable, and retain their shape the longest.  When it comes to buying books for my personal library, I prefer hardcovers because they hold up to wear and tear and aging better than a paperback.  They last longer.

Read on,

Paula

BTT: Buy, Borrow, or Trade

Buy, Borrow, or Trade (from Booking Through Thursday)

1. Do you buy the books you read, or do you borrow them from the library or from friends or from somewhere else?

2. Do you prefer new or used books?

3. If you buy them, do you keep them?

4. If you don't keep them, how long do you hold on to them before letting them go?  What do you do with them?

I mostly borrow books from the two libraries I work at.  75% of the books I buy are ones I've already read and loved.  These days I'm finding that the ones I buy that I haven't previously read turn out to be unsatisfactory and so I'm going to focus my book-buying on books I know I want to keep.

I prefer to buy new books just because they are more beautiful to me than used.  I liked buying from Better World Books because of their low prices, free shipping, and charity support but I prefer not to get former library books.  I don't mind buying used if the condition is to my liking.

Since I tend mainly to buy books I've already read and loved, I buy them with the intention of keeping them.  I want to reread them at some point in the future.

If I don't like a book I've bought that I have not previously read, I donate them to one of the two libraries I work for, I offer them to friends who may like them, or I send them to Better World Books.  I try to give them a new home as soon as possible so that they aren't cluttering up my house or my bookshelves.

Read on,
Paula

ABC meme

An ABC meme from bookgirl's nightstand:
Name books you liked, one for as many letters of the alphabet as you can come up with.

All My Friends Are Superheroes by Andrew Kaufman
The Broken Teaglass by Emily Arsenault
Carving The Light by Sue A. Maynard
The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
Factoring Humanity by Robert J. Sawyer
The Giant's House by Elizabeth McCracken
Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner
I Wish I Had A Red Dress by Pearl Cleage
Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
The Library At Night by Alberto Manguel
Mary, Called Magdalene by Margaret George
No One You Know by Michelle Richmond
On The Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves
Phoenix Rising (Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences #1) by Philippa Ballantine
Quirkyalone: A Manifesto For Uncompromising Romantics by Sasha Cagen
The Resurrectionist (Matthew Hawkwood #2) by James McGee
The Spiritualist by Megan Chance
The Tea House on Mulberry Street by Sharon Owens
The Unapologetic Fat Girl's Guide To Exercise And Other Incendiary Acts by Hanne Blank
The Vinyl Princess by Yvonne Prinz
Word Nerd by Susin Nielsen
X (?)
Year Zero by Rob Reid
Z (?)

Read on,
Paula

BTT: A Numbers Game

A Numbers Game (from Booking Through Thursday)

1. Are you currently reading more than one book?

2. If so, how many books are you currently reading?

3. Is this normal for you?

4. Where do you keep your current reads?

I always have one or more books on the go at one time, depending on what has caught my interest.  Sometimes I have one simply because I'm in a book lull.  Other times I have so many on the go.  You could say that I am book-bipolar.  Although I know this method is not effective (since I end up taking books back to the library unread because I had too many books out), I have not yet found a way of balancing it out.  Today, I have three books that I am actively reading, two that I occasionally pick up, and three which are always on the go because they are daily writing exercise books.  I have three books on my nightstand (one active title and the two passive ones), one is at work for reading during breaks, and one is at home that I will carry back and forth between work and home.  Sometimes, depending on the content (aka NSFW), I will leave the home read at home either on my couch or my footstool (because I don't have a coffee table) and only read it at home.  I am able to have so many books on the go at once because I pick titles that are different from each other.  I don't read two titles about the same topic at the same time...that would be too confusing.

Read on,

Paula

Booking Through Thursday; An introduction to genres

I work in two libraries and I am book-obsessed.  I think about books practically all day every day.  And I love it.  But for some reason, I don't always know what to talk about here on my book blog.  I recently discovered the Booking Through Thursday blog which offers up weekly book-related questions.  Actually, I discovered it on the blog of Simon Savidge (of The Readers).  I love to journal so book-related journalling is twice as nice!  Unlike the rest of the world, I am relatively new to blogging and definitely newer than Booking Through Thursday.  I've decided to start at the beginning, which was May 2005.  That's right...seven years' worth of questions!  So without further ado...

An Introduction To Genres
1. What kind of books do you like?
2.Why?  Provide specific examples.

Despite it being a basic question, I don't think I've answered it with specifics before.  Although I read widely, I generally read whatever sounds interesting to me plot-wise.  I would say that I read general fiction the most or literary fiction as opposed to any specific genre.  I read a lot of non-fiction and have my favourite subjects like neuroscience, music, fat studies, and my main love is books about books and reading.  I read a lot of the "popular science" genre.  I have all of Mary Roach and Malcolm Gladwell's books on my TBR because I have very much enjoyed the ones I've read ("Packing For Mars" by Mary Roach; "Blink" and "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell) .  I love learning new things without becoming an expert.  I love the "popular science" genre mostly because they usually teach you something without using boring language.  Thus the popularity of Mary Roach...she adds humour to topics that are not generally thought of as funny (human cadavers in "Stiff", the afterlife in "Spook", and sex in "Bonk").  I find the entertaining non-fiction books to be the best because they make learning fun.

What about you?  What do you like and why?

Read on,
Paula

"Some Kind of Fairy Tale" by Graham Joyce

Synopsis (from dust jacket): It is Christmas afternoon and Peter Martin gets an unexpected phone call from his parents.  It pulls him into a bewildering mystery.

His sister, Tara, had come back home.  Not so unusual you might think, this is a time when families get together.  But twenty years ago Tara took a walk into the woods and never came back, and as the years have gone by with no word from her the family has, unspoken, feared that she was dead.  But now she's back, tired, disheveled, but happy and full of stories about twenty years spent traveling the world, an epic odyssey taken on a whim.

But her stories don't quite hang together and the intervening years have been very kind to Tara . . . She really does look no different from the young women who walked out the door twenty years ago.  Peter's parents are just delighted to have their little girl back, but Peter is not so sure.  There is something about her.  A haunted, otherworldly quality.  Some would say it's as if she's off with the fairies.

And as the months go by Peter begins to suspect that the woods around their homes are not finished with Tara and his family...

My review:  I enjoyed this book.  It wasn't quite what I was expecting but that's because the synopsis doesn't give much of the story away and there's not a lot you can say about it without using spoilers.  The story opens with Tara returning home after being gone for twenty years.  Twenty years ago, Tara disappeared without a trace and the story deals in part with what happened in the aftermath.  How people did or didn't deal with it.  How people's lives were affected.  Upon her return, the story deals with where she was during those twenty years.  The book is supposedly narrated by one character but tells the stories of different characters' points of view.  I found it difficult to decide whom to believe, and that may have been the point of using more than one POV.  After a while, I became attached to certain characters, wanting to know what would happen to them.  In particular, I wanted to know more about Richie, the boyfriend.  To me, he seemed the most affected by Tara's disappearance.  I was disappointed with the ending but it's open-ended enough that you are left with questions but also the ability to decide for yourself where the rest of the story would go.  I'm disappointed that there wasn't more about the relationship between Tara and Hiero.

My only negative comment about the book is that even in the synopsis there is a spelling/grammatical error.  It should read 'look no different from the young wom[a]n who walked out the door'.  There were missing punctuation marks and spelling errors ('a way' instead of 'away') in the book.  And one section had both sides of a conversation in one run-sentence with no punctuation or breaks to differentiate between the characters that were speaking...and yet I could still figure out what character was saying what.

I first heard about this book on The Readers Podcast.  I waited until after I read the book to listen to the podcast episode and enjoyed hearing from the author.

Read on,

Paula

"Up and Down" by Terry Fallis

Synopsis: On his first day at Turner King, David Stewart quickly realizes that the world of international PR (affectionately, perhaps ironically, known as "the dark side") is a far cry from his previous job on Parliament Hill. For one, he missed the office memo on the all-black dress code; for another, there are enough acronyms and jargon to make his head spin. Before he even has time to find the washroom, David is assigned a major project: devise a campaign to revitalize North America's interest in the space program - maybe even show NASA's pollsters that watching a shuttle launch is more appealing than going out for lunch with friends. The pressure is on, and before long, David finds himself suggesting the most out-of-this-world idea imaginable: a Citizen Astronaut lottery that would send one Canadian and one American to the International Space Station. Suddenly, David's vaulted into an odyssey of his own, navigating the corporate politics of a big PR agency; wading through the murky but always hilarious waters of Canada-U.S. relations; and trying to hold on to his new job while still doing the right thing. 

My review: I reeeaaalllly enjoyed this book.  Being an amateur space geek and a Canadian, of course I would want to read this book.  David Stewart, a former Parliament Hill employee, takes a job at a Toronto PR agency that is tasked with devising a campaign to revitalize North America's interest in the space program.

If you've read it, you'll understand what I mean when I say she tried to take the book with her.  That made me cry.

The main character, David, is a Sherlock Holmes fan.  After reading "Dust and Shadow" by Lynsay Faye, I bought the Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes two weeks ago.  Reading "Up and Down" and in particular about David reading Sherlock Holmes to his dying mother, I am even more eager to read the Sherlock Holmes stories.

I loved the interactions/relationships between the characters and how some of them evolve over the course of the book.  I loved the unexpectedness of the character of Landon Percival.  This book was amusing and witty and fun.

There were only two titles on the 2013 Evergreen Award nominees list that I wanted to read.  This book, along with "Triggers" by Robert Sawyer, is nominated.  I am a big fan of Robert Sawyer but I will be voting for "Up and Down" when the voting takes place in October.

I loved this book so much that I bought my own copy.  And I'm super-excited because one of my libraries has arranged for Terry Fallis to come for an author talk.  I'll be attending, of course, and hopefully getting him to sign my book.  That talk is in June...you'll hear more about it later.

Read on,
Paula