The Bride’s Farewell

October 30, 2009 Fiction,Historical Fiction,Women

I liked Meg Rosoff’s How I Live Now quite a bit. It was a very powerful book, though one I don’t recommend universally due some of the content (I’m fine with it, I know some people wouldn’t be). So went I saw that I could get a review copy of her newest book The Bride’s Farewell from Random House Canada I might have said please to them. A lot. (I’m sure it only sounded a little bit like I was begging.) Being polite clearly paid off and they kindly sent it to me.

I really, really wish I could say that The Bride’s Farewell was as good as I was hoping it would be but alas, I cannot. It wasn’t a bad book. I mean, truly bad books are few and far between. This just wasn’t “as good.” I really wanted to like it but it didn’t pull me in. I read it during the readathon last weekend and as you can see in my updates I commented on it at the time.

I liked the premise of the book. A girl runs off on her wedding day, determined to find her own way in the world rather than marry a man she doesn’t love. He’s not a bad or a cruel man, just simply one that she does not love and does not want to marry. She has skills that could help pave her way in the world, she knows horses and is a horse whisperer type, if only she could find someone willing to take a chance on hiring a girl, something not a lot of people are willing to do in the 19th century. Added to that her little brother ends up sneaking away with her leading people to believe she’s actually his mother.

There are certain similarities to How I Live Now. There’s a broken family that needs to be reunited. It’s about children living (more or less) as adults while the world decides which way they are going to go. There’s a slightly untypical romance (though not like in How I Live Now). There was that large secondary character that was just a little bit different. The way events intertwine is very Rosoff.

For me what it lacked was that thing. You know what I mean though we don’t have a name for it and we couldn’t really tell you what it was (and if we could we could make a killing in the publishing industry). It’s that thing that pulls you into a story. The thing that forces you to read it and not want to put the book down and when you do put the book down it’s what makes you pick it back up as soon as possible. This book lacked that for me.

But I’ll still pick up more Rosoff books in the future.

Disclaimer: Random House Canada provided me with a review copy of this book. This was an uncompensated review.

Mary Gooch! Oops I Mean The Wife’s Tale

October 29, 2009 Canadian,Fiction,Women

I was pretty happy when I heard (ages ago it seems) that Lori Lansens had a new book coming out this year. I liked The Girls and I was curious about what she’d do for her next book. So I was really happy when Random House Canada sent me a review copy of The Wife’s Tale.

We need to stop and talk about the title of this book for a minute. Personally, I kind of strongly dislike the title. If I didn’t know who Lansens was and saw this book I would not be so interested in it. Yes, I can be a title snob. I think it should have been called Mary Gooch, because as one character in the book said you can’t forget a name like Mary Gooch. The Wife’s Tale? Forgettable. Mary Gooch? Not forgettable. So I’ve been calling this book Mary Gooch, hence the title of this post.

Mary Gooch is, quite simply, a large woman living a small life. She’s scared of change, scared of things being different. She doesn’t use a cell phone or even use her bank card. She relies on her husband, who she simply calls Gooch for all of that. She doesn’t listen much to other people, she mostly just listens to the call of her Kenmore refrigerator.

Then one day Gooch is just gone and Mary is left alone. I don’t mean he died. He just left. Mary suddenly finds herself having to do things for herself. Shockingly (to her) she discovered she can.

I liked Mary Gooch, both the character and the person. I liked it more than The Girls (who happen to get a nod in this book as both are set in the same small town).

I’m not crazy about the cover but the chocolates to play a part in the book. And I was highly amused that someone happened to give me a box of Laura Secord chocolates while I was reading it. And it was nice to read some Canadian fiction again. Sometimes I forget how much I actually do like it.

Disclaimer: Random House Canada provided me with a review copy of this book. This was an uncompensated review.

The Weight of a Mustard Seed

October 27, 2009 Biography/Memoir,Fiction

I was reading Wendell Steavenson’s The Weight of a Mustard Seed for a long, long time. I started it in February, when the lovely people at Harper Collins Canada sent me a copy. I finished it this past weekend. That’s unusually long, even for me.

In the book Steavenson looks at the life of General Kamel Sachet, who served under Saddam Hussein. It’s an interesting biography in that it’s not really written the way most biographies are. It’s not just a biography of Sachet, but it’s also kind of about the Iraqi people in general. The ups and downs and general resilience of Sachet’s life are mirrored in the many, many others that she speaks with.

I also thought that the writing style is also rather unusual for a biography. There was something very…literary about it. It was also, even more than usual, part biography but perhaps an even larger part history – the history of a people but centered around one central figure.

Unfortunately I found it difficult to stick with it for very long. Hmm, actually that’s not entirely correct. When I was reading it I was perfectly content to be reading it. When I set it down and walked away from it I didn’t feel it tugging at me to get back to it, which is partly why it took me so long to finish it.

I’ll be perfectly frank, my knowledge of Iraq is almost minimal. I see stuff on the news. I remember when Operation Desert Storm started because they interrupted regularly scheduled programming to tell us (if you must know, it was during Doogie Howser – we had two channels, there wasn’t a whole lot of choice of what to watch). I know bits and pieces that all add up to not a whole heck of a lot.

What I got from this was a reminder that not everything, or everyone is all black and white. Not a person, not a country, not a war. There are layers upon layers that we don’t see until we start pulling them back. Things can go from one extreme to another within a generation, or under certain conditions even less.

There’s also the reminder that we can ask and ask how come people don’t stand up things that they think are wrong. Or how people tolerate. There’s never one answer. Sometimes there isn’t any answer.

It really wasn’t a book that I’d “normally” read. Most of my non-fiction is usually around women’s issues or one of the two world wars. I think it was good to push out from my own self-imposed boundaries.

Thanks Harper Collins Canada for sending me this one (and I’m sorry it took me so long to finish it…).  You can browse inside the book on the Harper Collins webpage. And kudos to your art department because I really love the cover.

Disclaimer: Harper Collins Canada provided me with an advance copy of this book. This was an uncompensated review.

I read a lot this weekend. The end.

October 26, 2009 sometimes I ramble

Ok, not really the end. But I did read a lot this weekend. After reading all day on Saturday for the read-at-hon I read most of the day on Sunday too. Only I wasn’t coming online to check in. In fact, I was barely online at all yesterday. I was hiding from the internets.

Ok, not really. I was just too lazy to get off the couch and get my laptop. I peeked in from my iPhone a couple of times and that was it.

The laziness may have been induced from eating too many pancakes.

And then leftover Chinese food.  You know how I said I ordered way too much Chinese food during the readathon? Well, I ate it on Saturday. The fake husband and I ate it for dinner last night. He took some for his lunch today. And there’s still at least enough for my lunch when I go home today…possibly even more. That certainly qualifies as too. much. Chinese food.

Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-A-Thon!

October 24, 2009 Events

I’m feeling very White Rabbit today because OMG I’m LATE! Overslept (the Benadryl effect, had to take some last night for an allergy attack), the fake husband is heading to Syracuse to watch a football and had to get him on the road and I had to finish writing my BlogHer post.

Without further ado here’s my intro meme answers.

Where are you reading from today? The couch mostly.

3 facts about me … 1. I grew up in PEI and if I wore my hair in braids in the summer I was often asked by tourists there to see “Anne” stuff to take a picture with them. I lived in Montreal for close to 10 years even though I don’t speak French. I could eat nachos pretty much every day of the week.

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? I have two books I really want to finish, 2 more I’d love to finish/start and a good 10 more backups.

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)? I really want to finish two review copies that I must. get. read.

If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, Any advice for people doing this for the first time? Relax. You’ll run late or get sleepy or get distracted by life. Remember that it’s supposed to be fun.

I’ll be updating this post every hour or so during the day. (I know, some of you prefer to post individual posts. To each their own.) Sassymonkey start time – 10 am. (ouch!)

10am Readathon Hour 3 (or Hour 1 Sassymonkey Standard Time)
Book reading: The Weight of a Mustard Seed.
Desperately need coffee….

11 am Readathon Hour 4 (Hour 2 SST)
Pages read previous hour – 40
Book Reading – The Weight of a Mustard Seed
Snacks consumed – just coffee but thinking it’s time to make some food soon
Notes: Reading will go faster when I switch books. Need to plug in iPhone. I didn’t have my iPhone last time and it makes a huge difference. I can read with one hand and tweet with the other!
Mini-challenges? Plotted myself on Trish’s map.

12pm Readathon Hour 5 (Hour 3 SST)
Pages read previous hour – 23
Book Reading – The Weight of a Mustard Seed
Snacks consumed – jalapeno poppers (yum, but would have been better if homemade)
Notes: lots of interruptions this hour. High point was discovering popsicles in the freezer. Had forgotten I had them! Low point, talking with former downstairs neighbour (FDN) and finding out one of the reasons he moved is because his girlfriend has Stage 2 breast cancer. sigh.
Mini-challenges? None. I want to finish this book. Should be able to finish it before 1pm.

1pm Readathon Hour 6 (Hour 4 SST)
Pages read previous hour – 41
Book reading – Finished The Weight of a Mustard Seed (yay!) and started The Wife’s Tale (which really ought to have been title Mary Gooch)
Snacks consumed – nothing.
Notes: I’m so happy to have finished Mustard Seed. It’s a good book and I’m looking forward to reviewing it but it took me forever to read. Now that I’m reading fiction I’ll probably read faster.
Mini-Challenges – none.

2pm Readathon Hour 7 (Hour 5 SST)
Pages read previous hour – 67
Book reading – The Wife’s Tale (Mary Gooch!)
Snacks consumed- nothing
Notes: I’m really enjoying Mary Gooch and ripping through it. Which is good because I’m going to lose at least a half hour of reading later when @phdinparenting comes to get my bookcases. (Oh I really, really hope they fit in her car…lol)
Mini-Challenges: none. Must get back to Mary Gooch!

3pm Readathon Hour 8 (Hour 6 SST)
Pages read previous hour – 76
Book reading – The Wife’s Tale (Mary Gooch!)
Snacks consumed – nothing. I’m not feeling very snackish today
Notes: I like Mary Gooch! Next hour will probably be a light reading hour since @phdinparenting should be showing up to pick up my old Kilby bookcases.
Mini-challenges: none. Squeezing in as much reading time this hour as I can.

5pm Readathon Hour 10 (Hour 8 SST)
Pages read previous 2 hours – 170
Book reading – The Wife’s Tale (Mary Gooch!) and The Bride’s Farewell.
Snacks consumed – a chai latte and a chocolate from the box of Laura Secord chocolates that @phdinparenting brought me. Just ordered Chinese food. It’s a bit early but I didn’t really have lunch.
Notes: I liked Mary Gooch! And I think I even liked the ending. Not so sure about The Bride’s Farewell but I’m not that far into it.
Mini-challenges: none. I’m not sure I’m doing to do anymore. I don’t want to write multiple posts about things but mostly just want to squeeze in as much reading as I can and play on Twitter.

6pm Readathon Hour 11 (Hour 9 SST)
Pages read previous hour – 44
Book reading – The Bride’s Farewell
Snacks consumed – Chinese food. I ordered way too much. Anyone want some?
Notes: Not being blown away by The Bride’s Farewell. Very different from How I Live Now, which is the last book by Meg Rosoff that I read. Should probably start thinking about what to read next. Denise thinks I should read Shadow of the Wind.

8pm Readathon Hour 13 (Hour 11 SST)
Pages read previous two hours – 129
Book Reading – The Bride’s Farewell
Snacks consumed – nada. I’m still full of Chinese food.
Notes: Today is going by faster than I would have thought, or maybe that’s just the caffeine talking. The Bride’s Farewell is growing on me, but it took a long time. I only have a couple of chapters left to read. Then I’ll start Shadow of the Wind before Denise shows up to whack me over the head with it. Hmm what colour is Shadow of the Wind – red or brown? I think it’s brown.
Mini-challenges? I did Tara’s books that bite challenge and Trisha’s re-reading the classics challenge.

Mid-point meme:

1. What are you reading right now? The Bride’s Farewell. Only a couple of chapters left.

2. How many books have you read so far? I’ve finished two, though I was 2/3 through one of them before it began. I’m almost finished The Bride’s Farewell.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? I haven’t really planned out what I’m going to read for the rest.

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? No but the fake husband conveniently planned a day trip to the US to watch a college football game.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Just food and planned interruption from another blogger who was coming to pick up some bookcases I was giving away. She brought me a latte and chocolates. Scores!

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? How fast it’s going by!

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Hmm maybe a few less challenges that involve writing their own posts? People’s feed readers will be going nuts!

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? Get up on time. lol

9. Are you getting tired yet? Not really. I think the latte I had earlier is perking me up.

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? I can’t think of anything, except to have breaks when you need them and just have fun.

Next update in an hour or so.

9pm Readathon Hour 14 (12 hours SST)
Pages read in previous hour – 48
Books read – The Bride’s Farwell, The Shadow of the Wind
Snacks consumed – nothing. I’m not very snacky today apparently.
Notes: I’ll probably only be reading for another 2 hours or so. I’ve already gotten what I wanted to read today done and more so I’m quite fine with that.

10pm Readathon Hour 15 (13 hours SST)
Pages read in previous hour – 63
Books read – The Shadow of the Wind
Snacks consumed – nothing
Notes: Getting sleepy. The fake husband will probably be home in an hour or so.

11pm Readathon Hour 16 (14 hours SST)
Pages read in previous hour – 61
Books Read – The Shadow of the Wind
Snacks consumed – nothing, still full of Chinese food
Notes: I’ll probably read a bit more but I don’t think I’ll be updating again tonight. I think I’ll be going to bed soon. We have Farmer’s Market and breakfast plans in the morning.

Deweys 24 Hour Readathon Snacks

October 22, 2009 Events

Since the readathon is looming on Saturday I’ve been thinking about snacks. Lee is going to be out of town and while I certainly could drive myself to get snacks if I run out I don’t want to have to because a. I kind of hate driving and b. I fully plan to spend most of the day in clothes that one should not be seen in while in public. (Yes, jammies.)

We were grocery shopping last night so I picked up some goodies. Things like candy from the bulk store (mmm sour grape gummies) and Halloween candy (mmm Kit-Kats). I have to say that hosting this when there’s Halloween candy around? Brilliant.

Then of course was the slightly more spicy option. Yes, I’m talking about jalapeno poppers. I love an excuse to eat jalapeno poppers. Battered spicy gooey goodness they are. And while we were at it we picked up some those feta-stuffed red jalapeno appetizers at Costco (yum!). And we always have stuff to make nachos or quesadillas on hand.

Of course I’m not forgetting healthy options. I have stuff to make a tomato-cucumber salad. And broccoli slaw to make a well, slaw. Yogurt. And a very special bonus – pomegranates were on sale at the grocery store yesterday. Woohoo!

The only question is what to do for dinner. I could just snack all day. Or I could do delivery. Chinese takeout might be good, right? lol

Have you got your snacks all lined up? What are you having? I still have more time to buy!

Catching Fire

October 21, 2009 Fiction,Science Fiction,Young Adult

*Contains some spoilers for both Hunger Games and Catching Fire. Read at your own risk if you haven’t read them yet.*

So, I finally read Suzanne Collins’ sequel to Hunger Games, Catching Fire. I saw that like I’ve been putting it off. I haven’t really. I didn’t buy Catching Fire so I’ve been on the wait list at the library since before it was released. But as I’ve mentioned elsewhere I was wary of reading Catching Fire. I’ve read too many sequels that just didn’t stand up to the first book in the series. And second books in a trilogy aren’t always great. Basically, I was worried it wasn’t going to be good. I know, all y’all that got advance copies loved it but well, I can be… finicky. But I shouldn’t have worried. It was a solid second book.

I have to say, Peeta grew on me. I really didn’t want to say that when I started the book. I know I’ve shocked a bunch of you by declaring on Twitter that simply did not like Peeta. At all. I didn’t, and I still don’t love Peeta but he’s grown on me quite a bit. I liked him way more in this book than I did in the first one. He still kind of irks me a little. I’ve been trying to put my finger on what bugged me about him and I think it’s just that he’s well, a bit soft. I’m not saying he’s not strong in his own ways, he is completely, but when it comes to Katniss he’s beyond soft. He’s mush. I do not like mush. Marshmallowy I can do but he’s mush. (And out of the woodwork will come all the teenage Peeta lovers to tell me how stupid I am because Peeta rocks. Meh.) Ok, maybe not total mush but he’s nice. I never really was much of one for nice boys. I like my guys with a bit of an edge.

Which I’m sure makes some of you think that I’m #teamgale. Um, sorry. So not. Gale is…I don’t know what Gale is but I don’t particularly like him. After Hunger Games I knew I wasn’t #teampeeta but I was also pretty sure that I wasn’t #teamgale either. I just knew I was #teamkatnisskicksass and I still am but…

The girl is dense. I’m sorry, I like Katniss a lot and she generally kicks ass but she practically needs to be hit on the head by a two-by-four (or you know, blown up) before she figures out anything. To be honest, it surprised me because she’s smart and she’s pretty good at figuring out what Haymitch wants to her do but yet in the big scheme of things? DENSE. I know, plenty of other people were actually in on it but how many clues (some pretty blatant) did she need? And the way she acted in the last few pages? So. Not. Kick. Ass.

And the whole “let’s all run away together” plot she had earlier in the book? As a friend of mine said, she was a bit Bella-like. I don’t know if you can get any further from kick ass than Bella caught between Jacob and Edward in Eclipse. I never thought I’d have the urge to tell Katniss to grow up but in this book I did. That surprised me, and not in a good way.

This isn’t all to say that I didn’t like the book. I did. Quite a bit. Like I said above it was a solid second book in a trilogy and I’m looking forward to the third book. So long as Katniss kicks some serious ass in it.

(And yes, I know it’s unlike me to say anything spoilery in a post but I figured there was no way to really talk about this one without spoiling something.  Plus it’s been a few months. I figure all you die-hards have read it by now.)

Calling All Toronto Area Bloggers!

October 20, 2009 Events

A few years ago, before I moved back to the wilds of downtown Montreal (and you know, then abandoned them for Ottawa) we once had a Toronto Book Bloggers Meet and Greet. Guess what, I’m heading into town in a visit and I’d like to see y’all again as well as anyone who couldn’t make it or wasn’t blogging last time.

We’re in Toronto the last weekend of October, yes just a week away. Somehow I haven’t managed to overbook myself on this trip yet. So here’s the scoop.

• Saturday, October 31 (HAPPY HALLOWEEN) works best for us. Right now we have no plans for Saturday. Well, mostly because…
• We’ll probably head to the St. Lawrence Market early-ish Saturday morning (as in before 10am but not insanely early like at 6am or anything). I miss St. Lawrence Market Saturday mornings. I used to go almost every weekend.
• We would like to fit in at least one IFOA event but we haven’t bought tickets to anything yet so highly flexible. The meet-up doesn’t have to be IFOA-related at all but if anyone is going or wants to go let me know!
• Depending on the location and time of day (and what else we end up planning) Lee (aka the Fake Husband for those of you on Twitter) may come with me. He’s survived both an evening at a pub before BlogHer Boston and a BlogHer cocktail party, so he’s kind of been initiated.
• Because most of you are local and may want to give out treats to cute-looking children in costumes I’m thinking early afternoon is probably best?
• We’re staying downtown so downtown-ish probably works better for us.
• I have no clue where to go. Please make suggestions! Someplace where we can sit around, chat without being shushed and maybe has beverages and snackies. And isn’t outside because if we planned that I KNOW it would snow.

Leave me your thoughts in the comments please.

Goddess Boot Camp

October 19, 2009 Fiction,Young Adult

I’ve been in a right old reading funk lately. I’ve had Goddess Boot Camp, the sequel to Tera Lynn Child’s Oh. My. Gods. checked out of the library for at least a month, possibly longer (I think I’ve only done one renewal…might have been two…). I put off reading it and I put off reading it.

You see, this isn’t a normal funk for me. Mostly when I’m in a funk I just don’t want to read. Sad but true. But this time I’m in a funk where for some reason I think that everything I read is going to suck. That’s part of the reason I’ve been rereading for well, months. At some point I just got really disillusioned, not because I wasn’t reading anything good, I just wasn’t reading anything that knocked my socks off. I somehow kept forgetting that a book can be good without knocking my socks off and Goddess Boot Camp was good. It was light and fun and made me laugh. And I can’t really figure out how to say anything about it without spoiling the first one. Don’t you hate it when that happens?

I actually finished two books yesterday. I think I’m gearing up for the 24 Hour Read-A-Thon.

The Governor General Literary Awards are here!

October 15, 2009 sometimes I ramble

I know, I know. They were announced yesterday but my mother is visiting and I am distracted and tired and posts unfortunately do not write themselves just because you want them to (sadly).

But the GGs are here! I love the GGs. I know. Everyone is about the Giller prize. But back when I first started book blogging in 2005 I was living in Toronto, a bit of a Mecca for Canadian literature. And I decided that year that I was going to read all the books nominated for the fiction category. I did! It only took me until March of the following year but I did it. I haven’t done it since and I probably won’t this year.

I think one of the things I find fascinating is how both the Giller and the Governor General’s Literary Awards both look for the best fiction and often have completely different lists. Ditto the GGs non-fiction picks and the Charles Taylor Award picks.

You can go look at the full list of the GG nominees (and their descriptions are here) but here’s the categories that interest me the most.

English Fiction:

• Michael Crummey, Galore. (Doubleday Canada; distributed by Random House of Canada)
• Annabel Lyon, The Golden Mean. (Random House Canada; distributed by the publisher)
• Alice Munro, Too Much Happiness. (McClelland & Stewart; distributed by Random House of Canada)
• Kate Pullinger, The Mistress of Nothing. (McArthur & Company; distributed by the publisher)
• Deborah Willis, Vanishing and Other Stories. (Penguin Group (Canada); distributed by the publisher)

English Non-Fiction:

• Randall Hansen, Fire and Fury: The Allied Bombing of Germany, 1942-45. (Doubleday Canada; distributed by Random House of Canada)
• Trevor Herriot, Grass, Sky, Song: Promise and Peril in the World of Grassland Birds. (Phyllis Bruce Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers; distributed by HarperCollins Canada)
• Eric S. Margolis, American Raj: Liberation or Domination? (Resolving the Conflict Between the West and the Muslim World). (Key Porter Books; distributed by H.B. Fenn and Company Ltd)
• Eric Siblin, The Cello Suites: J.S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece. (House of Anansi Press; distributed by HarperCollins Canada)
• M.G. Vassanji, A Place Within: Rediscovering India. (Doubleday Canada; distributed by Random House of Canada)

Children’s Literature – Text

• Shelley Hrdlitschka, Sister Wife. (Orca Book Publishers; distributed by the publisher)
• Sharon Jennings, Home Free. (Second Story Press; distributed by University of Toronto Press)
• Caroline Pignat, Greener Grass: The Famine Years. (Red Deer Press, a division of Fitzhenry & Whiteside; distributed by the publisher)
• Robin Stevenson, A Thousand Shades of Blue. (Orca Book Publishers; distributed by the publisher)
• Tim Wynne-Jones, The Uninvited. (Candlewick Press; distributed by Random House of Canada)

Munro making the list is no surprise. She didn’t withdraw herself from this, only the Giller. And it’s not unusual for a short story collection to be on the list.

Only one book about WWII on the non-fiction list and none about WWI. Surprising. Also, grassland birds? Interesting. (As in interesting that a book about grassland birds made the list, not interesting in that I want to read it.)

In the children’s list, Sister Wife? Really. I haven’t read it but I’ve heard of it and I’m vaguely surprised.

Edit: Forgot to mention – Vassanji writing non-fiction? Interesting.

Any thoughts on the GG’s?