October 2017 Reads Part 2

(Continued from Part 1)

On the Beach - Nevil Shute (1957)
"Maybe we've been too silly to deserve a world like this."

This book was fairly depressing and a little hard to get through at times, mostly due to the slow build, but also due to the fatalistic overtones. Perhaps most depressingly, it deals with the subjects of acceptance of death and suicide/euthanasia. All that noted, On The Beach is still a classic of post-apocolyptic literature - unique in that it's set in Australia - and a legitimately realistic, bleak exploration at a potential reality of the aftermath of nuclear war and the end of the human race.

Related Reads:
A Canticle for Leibowitz (Miller)
Earth Abides (Stewart)
The Postman (Brin)

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! - Amy Schlitz (2007)
"The miller steals the flour, and the baker steals the bread/We're hypocrites and liars - and we all get fed."

This Newbery Award winning book is a collection of 20+ monologues (some of them poetry) written with the intent of having students read and perform them. I found the collection clever and surprisingly moving at times. It includes several asides throughout about medieval life, and it seems like a good introduction to medieval history, society, and social structure for anyone.

Related Reads
The Midwife's Apprentice (Cushman)
The Whipping Boy (Fleischman)
The Canterbury Tales (Chaucer)
(see Bibliography)

Trickster's Choice - Tamora Pierce (2004)
"I don’t trust anyone who feels you should like them because they love themselves so much."

I've previously read two quartet-series by Tamora Pierce (Song of the Lioness and Protector of the Small) and enjoyed them, so I was interested in continuing the storyline with Trickster's Choice. However, I was somewhat disappointed with this book. The protagonist Aly is older than the heroines of previous novels (mid/late teens), and as a reader, I never really felt connected with her or felt like she was in any real danger throughout her adventures. I also found long portions of the book somewhat dragging and a little too neatly-fitting.

That said, I probably will read the sequel since this is a two-part rather than four-part. And there were portions of the book that I found interesting and even clever - for instance, the character Nawat and Aly's lessons from the flock of crows.

Related Reads:
Song of the Lioness Quartet (Pierce)

Riddley Walker -  Russell Hoban (1980)
"Day time it wer then nor not raining but the rain wer in it and the dark is all ways there. The shape of the nite what beartht the day when Canterbury dyd. Hart of the Wud in the hart of the stoan. I cud feal that thing inside us how its afeart of being beartht. I cud feal how every thing is every thing."

The setting and tone of this novel is a strange mishmash of post-apocalyptic and English medieval society. It's written in a curious mix of old/future English from the point of view of the 12-year-old protagonist, who comes of age in the first chapter. The writing style and content makes Riddley Walker a difficult, crude, fascinating, and ultimately rewarding read.

The edition I checked out from the library was not an expanded edition and included no footnotes. I'd really recommend getting the expanded edition and/or using an online guide such as this one to refer to like I did.

Related Reads:
A Clockwork Orange (Burgess)
The Road (McCarthy)
Lord of the Flies (Golding)
The Canterbury Tales (Chaucer)

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness - Andrew Peterson (2008)
"Even if hope is just a low ember at night, in the morning you can still start a fire." 

This book is the first of a fantasy-adventure series aimed at children. Even with that in mind, when reading I couldn't shake the feeling that it seems like it's trying a bit too hard with its witty descriptions and names such as, "That evil was a nameless evil, an evil whose name was Gnag the Nameless." At times the tone reminded me of a less-clever version of Terry Pratchett novels. I was also a little bothered by what seemed to be a prevalence of gross-out humor and descriptions.

Still, the overall story manages to be interesting enough, and I'm invested in how the characters and story will progress throughout the rest of the series. While the overall tone is humorous, there are still enough serious and even darker moments and themes to give the book substance. My feeling is that this book would shine best as a read-aloud to younger kids.

Related Reads:
A Series of Unfortunate Events (Snickett)

October 2017 Reads Part 1

Quick note before I get into reviews: in October, I finally started to make use of my GoodReads account. In the past, I'd misunderstood the purpose of GoodReads - I thought that I would have to somehow log every book I've ever read on it, and that I'd constantly have to be updating my progress for every book I read, which isn't practical with the amount I'm reading. But! After actually exploring a bit more, I realized that users don't actually have to "update progress" for books they're reading. I spent some time entering in the books I've read since 2014 (the year I started keeping track in list form), which took a bit of time, but was easier than I'd thought. So far, GoodReads has been really useful for sorting and organizing my books and seeing them in visual groups. And I haven't found it tedious to mark what I'm "Currently Reading" when I start a new book, even though I sometimes finish a book in less than a day.

Aside from jumping onto the GoodReads learning curve, I read a really varied mix of books in October. Out of the nine books I read and the one that I started at the end of the month, five (half of them) were the first books of series. I generally avoid starting more than one or two series at a time, but somehow it worked out that a number of the books that I reserved to check out from the library were part of series. I actually didn't mind as much as I thought.

Sleeping Giants - Sylvain Neuvel (2016)
"If you left a weapon with someone so they could defend themselves, and you found out they were killing each other with it, you'd probably want to take it back or get rid of it."

The format here is different and interesting - the author tells the story through interviews, journal entries, and transcribed audio logs from a handful of characters. Though I didn't love all the different voices, I liked the unique style and will probably read the other books in the series. And while the book is definitely SciFi, I felt it would be quite accessible for non-SciFi readers. Sleeping Giants is largely an exploration of cost vs benefits (the needs of many outweighing needs of the few) in the context of war, and I assume that line will continue in the next book in the series.

Related Reads
The Martian (Weir)
Three-Body Problem (Liu)

My Family and Other Animals - Gerald Durrell (1956)
"Gradually the magic of the island settled over us as gently and clingingly as pollen. Each day had a tranquility, a timelessness, about it, so that you wished it would never end. But then the dark skin of the night would peel off and there would be a fresh day waiting for us, glossy and colorful as a child's transfer and with the same tinge of unreality."

This book was absolutely a joy to read. It's a recounting of the author's childhood spent in Corfu, and the writing is chock-full of lavish descriptions and childlike wonder. I loved exploring the outdoors and observing bugs and animals as a child, so I really related to the author's experiences. Some might understandably find the constant descriptions all a bit too much and the portrayal of the author's family members and family friends a little jarring. For me, though, the aura of the book is truly magical, and I'm eager to read more by Durrell.

Related Reads:
Belles on their Toes (Gilbreth)
Rascal (North)
Boy (Dahl)
Surprise Island (Warner)

It Didn't Start With You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle - Mark Wolynn (2016)
"Our core language insists on being heard. When we follow where it leads and hear its story, it has the power to defuse our deepest fears."

In order to really get the best understanding of this book as possible, I took copious notes while reading and completed the included exercises. I found the book generally well-written. However (and it's a big however) - I just couldn't buy into the author's overall thesis that family trauma is clearly passed down generationally to the extent that he postulates. Certain elements I could accept - such as the fact that a child born after their mother had traumatic experiences while pregnant may have higher instances of PTSD, and that a child who observed his parents live through trauma may experience similar feelings of trauma later in life - but other examples used just felt like too much of a stretch, and I didn't find his reasoning for these well-explained. I also was bothered by the author's strong and constant advice to forgive and accept one's parents; while what he says about reconciliation is true in many cases, he doesn't allow for cases of genuinely toxic or dangerous family members.

The bottom line for me: the book is helpful in the general sense of giving some advice that's good overall (forgive family members, release bad memories, explore your family's history for deeper understanding of trends), and some of the family explorations, connections, and exercises are interesting to think about, but I remain unconvinced of his overall methods. For instance, in some of his exercises, he has you trace an issue in your life (panic attacks and claustrophobia coupled with a fear of dying alone, for instance) to a possible family member who had a related experience (say, you find that your grandfather died trapped in an elevator, where he would have had feelings of panic, claustrophobia, and he died alone). He then has you go through mindfulness exercises where you basically confront your fear, visualize talking to your deceased relative, and release the fear "back to where it originated from." Perhaps my main issue with this form of therapy is largely me not buying into it, though; I wouldn't go so far as to say that it couldn't be useful for those who are able to relate to it.

Related Reads:
The Body Keeps the Score (Van der Kolk)
(See Bibliography)

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers - Mary Roach (2003)
"I like the term 'decedent.' It's as though the man weren't dead, but merely involved in some sort of protracted legal dispute. For evident reasons, mortuary science is awash with euphemisms.... Decomposed brain that filters down through a damaged skull and bubbles out the nose is 'frothy purge.'"

If you're into history, interested in crime investigation, or are a doctor, you'll find this book especially interesting. I'm not a terribly squeamish person, but I had a little trouble getting through the book; I was doing all right until nearer to the end where there's a chapter on cannibalism. The author maintains a sense of humor that's necessary in her unflinching exploration of what happens to bodies after death (especially those donated to science), but sometimes it felt a bit jarring. I did appreciate that Roach talks about her own experiences regarding the death of her mother. The book is overall pretty fascinating and obviously highly researched, but I wouldn't recommend it to the faint of stomach.

Related Reads:
(See Bibliography)

(to be continued in Part 2)