mangofandango (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mangofandango) wrote2011-04-27 01:45 pm
mangofandango) wrote2011-04-27 01:45 pm
keeping up with the books
On the subject of books, I like to keep track of what I have read - and look, such improvement over last year already! :)
Will Grayson, Will Grayson - by John Greene and David Leviathan
This is basically a YA powerhouse, written by two excellent YA writers. I liked it more than I've enjoyed other Greene books, and as much as I remember liking Leviathan's "Boy Meets Boy". It was smart and funny, and the librarian in me always appreciates a smart, funny book I could recommend to teen boys who are smart and funny and feel confident that they would like it. It managed to be progressive within the framework of the reality of teen boys, too, which is a feat, and to carry emotional weight without feeling heavy or syrupy. Mostly.
Breathe My Name - R.A. Nelson
An unusual teen thriller, in that it isn't exactly a thriller...but it feels like one. It's subject matter is grim and terrible, but the story is exciting. I ate it up without examination, despite suspecting at times that it might be a bit ridiculous in some ways - I didn't actually care, it was kind of a breathless ridiculousness, and I sped right through it. It works, on that level, quite well.
Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
I get it, the hype. I totally get it now! I mean, as fake as the romance felt to me (beyond its intended level of fakeness, I mean), the rest of this book was awesome. It managed to be both dark and fun, the stuff of a good sci-fi dystopian action movie - and I hope they don't wreck it in the movie they are making. (I read a lot about the whitewashing in casting Katniss, but I know really nothing else about the likelihood of awesomeness or terribleness in regards to this movie. I hope it's good. :)) I want the sequel, like, right now.
The Thirteenth Tale
Did you know I have never read Jane Eyre? I haven't, and this book made me want to. I will read it soon, I promise. The Thirteenth Tale is a Gothic story that pays its respects to (and has echoes of) Jane Eyre pretty much constantly. I read it during the last snow storms, and it was the perfect choice. It was immersive and so completely bookish. I really enjoyed it.
"Saffron and Brimstone" by Elizabeth Hand
This book was poetic and strange, elusive (in the sense that I sometimes was not entirely sure what I had read, or what it meant) and beautiful. This is a strange thing to say, perhaps, but it felt a bit like looking at paintings of stories. I liked it, as I tend to like Elizabeth Hand. It was unsettling naptime reading. :)
"Pink Think: Becoming a Woman in Many Uneasy Lessons" by...
I have read this one before, and I own it, but I grabbed it when I needed a book in a hurry one day and it was a fun re-read. "Pink Think" is about the socialization of girls-into-womanhood in decades past, focusing mostly on the 50s-70s or so. Popular culture, advice guides for girls on dating, lessons taught in school, etc., are all discussed. The nice thing about this is how the author handles the subject - recognizing what is very very wrong and often still very, very relevant about how we are taught to "be women", but also what is ridiculously funny about some of those messages. I laughed, a lot. Quietly, so as not to disturb the girl sleeping in my lap. ;)
"Cinderella Ate My Daughter" by Peggy Orenstein
I liked this book simply for "getting it" - for acknowledging my concerns about girl culture in our, well, culture, and for exploring what it means for girls and their parents. I also think it's important because it addresses this stuff where it begins, in early childhood - even in infancy.
I reviewed this book on Amazon, so I won't go on here. ;) I will say that even though I have read a lot of books about girls growing up in U.S. culture and the affect of media and cultural attitudes on their well-being, I thought this one was important and very good. So even if you feel you have been down this road with say, Reviving Ophelia or other books of this nature, there is value here. It's up-to-date, accessible (it has plenty of academic merit, but is very smooth and conversational in tone), and looks at this issue from a fairly fresh perspective.
"Ex Libris" by Anne Fadiman
A collection of essays, basically an ode to reading. I have read this before, it is a comfortable and happy read for me.
"This World We Live In" by Susan Beth Pfeffer
The third book in a YA series that is about the aftermath of a natural disaster that affects the entire earth. Apocalyptic survival fiction is something I generally find kinda fun, and this was kinda fun. The first two were better, and if this is supposed to be the series' end, I wish it had been a little bit more...final. But I enjoyed it for what it was.
Tender Morsels - Margo Lanagan
There was a hullabaloo about the content of this book a while back (it was pulled from a reading list, perhaps Bitch magazine? I don't remember, precisely), and I picked it up at the library after reading writing in its defense from several YA authors I respect. And lo, I thought it was excellent. Yes, it is very dark, and yes, it does feature rape and incest, among other horrors - but no, I don't think it is handled insensitively... and I think it is in fact a feminist and even empowering story. Also, it was just really good and well-written. I was surprised plenty of times along the way, and the whole thing was a new experience for me despite being inspired by a tale I am familiar with (Snow White and Rose Red). I want to check out other writing by this author.
I think this brings me more or less up-to-date. Yes, it took me like a week and several sittings to write all this down, so I apologize if it reads terribly. I don't have the energy to go back and edit...so yeah, if you have made it this far, congratulations. :)
Will Grayson, Will Grayson - by John Greene and David Leviathan
This is basically a YA powerhouse, written by two excellent YA writers. I liked it more than I've enjoyed other Greene books, and as much as I remember liking Leviathan's "Boy Meets Boy". It was smart and funny, and the librarian in me always appreciates a smart, funny book I could recommend to teen boys who are smart and funny and feel confident that they would like it. It managed to be progressive within the framework of the reality of teen boys, too, which is a feat, and to carry emotional weight without feeling heavy or syrupy. Mostly.
Breathe My Name - R.A. Nelson
An unusual teen thriller, in that it isn't exactly a thriller...but it feels like one. It's subject matter is grim and terrible, but the story is exciting. I ate it up without examination, despite suspecting at times that it might be a bit ridiculous in some ways - I didn't actually care, it was kind of a breathless ridiculousness, and I sped right through it. It works, on that level, quite well.
Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
I get it, the hype. I totally get it now! I mean, as fake as the romance felt to me (beyond its intended level of fakeness, I mean), the rest of this book was awesome. It managed to be both dark and fun, the stuff of a good sci-fi dystopian action movie - and I hope they don't wreck it in the movie they are making. (I read a lot about the whitewashing in casting Katniss, but I know really nothing else about the likelihood of awesomeness or terribleness in regards to this movie. I hope it's good. :)) I want the sequel, like, right now.
The Thirteenth Tale
Did you know I have never read Jane Eyre? I haven't, and this book made me want to. I will read it soon, I promise. The Thirteenth Tale is a Gothic story that pays its respects to (and has echoes of) Jane Eyre pretty much constantly. I read it during the last snow storms, and it was the perfect choice. It was immersive and so completely bookish. I really enjoyed it.
"Saffron and Brimstone" by Elizabeth Hand
This book was poetic and strange, elusive (in the sense that I sometimes was not entirely sure what I had read, or what it meant) and beautiful. This is a strange thing to say, perhaps, but it felt a bit like looking at paintings of stories. I liked it, as I tend to like Elizabeth Hand. It was unsettling naptime reading. :)
"Pink Think: Becoming a Woman in Many Uneasy Lessons" by...
I have read this one before, and I own it, but I grabbed it when I needed a book in a hurry one day and it was a fun re-read. "Pink Think" is about the socialization of girls-into-womanhood in decades past, focusing mostly on the 50s-70s or so. Popular culture, advice guides for girls on dating, lessons taught in school, etc., are all discussed. The nice thing about this is how the author handles the subject - recognizing what is very very wrong and often still very, very relevant about how we are taught to "be women", but also what is ridiculously funny about some of those messages. I laughed, a lot. Quietly, so as not to disturb the girl sleeping in my lap. ;)
"Cinderella Ate My Daughter" by Peggy Orenstein
I liked this book simply for "getting it" - for acknowledging my concerns about girl culture in our, well, culture, and for exploring what it means for girls and their parents. I also think it's important because it addresses this stuff where it begins, in early childhood - even in infancy.
I reviewed this book on Amazon, so I won't go on here. ;) I will say that even though I have read a lot of books about girls growing up in U.S. culture and the affect of media and cultural attitudes on their well-being, I thought this one was important and very good. So even if you feel you have been down this road with say, Reviving Ophelia or other books of this nature, there is value here. It's up-to-date, accessible (it has plenty of academic merit, but is very smooth and conversational in tone), and looks at this issue from a fairly fresh perspective.
"Ex Libris" by Anne Fadiman
A collection of essays, basically an ode to reading. I have read this before, it is a comfortable and happy read for me.
"This World We Live In" by Susan Beth Pfeffer
The third book in a YA series that is about the aftermath of a natural disaster that affects the entire earth. Apocalyptic survival fiction is something I generally find kinda fun, and this was kinda fun. The first two were better, and if this is supposed to be the series' end, I wish it had been a little bit more...final. But I enjoyed it for what it was.
Tender Morsels - Margo Lanagan
There was a hullabaloo about the content of this book a while back (it was pulled from a reading list, perhaps Bitch magazine? I don't remember, precisely), and I picked it up at the library after reading writing in its defense from several YA authors I respect. And lo, I thought it was excellent. Yes, it is very dark, and yes, it does feature rape and incest, among other horrors - but no, I don't think it is handled insensitively... and I think it is in fact a feminist and even empowering story. Also, it was just really good and well-written. I was surprised plenty of times along the way, and the whole thing was a new experience for me despite being inspired by a tale I am familiar with (Snow White and Rose Red). I want to check out other writing by this author.
I think this brings me more or less up-to-date. Yes, it took me like a week and several sittings to write all this down, so I apologize if it reads terribly. I don't have the energy to go back and edit...so yeah, if you have made it this far, congratulations. :)
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2. I have the last 2 books of the Hunger Games trilogy I can mail to you if Kindle doesn't work.
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I want to read the Hunger Games but I have so much else in a big pile on my dresser that I feel like I have to read first. Oh, and a book to finish writing. :(