September - This Month in Reading

Yikes, another month has zoomed out of my reach exactly like the sand through the hourglass cliche. I read 5 books this month, but unfortunately none of the books was for any challenges - oh well! Not sure what was going there.

So for October, I think I will simply try to read one book for the TBR Pile Challenge. Any other reading that happens can be a happy addition to getting rid of the TBR pile.

American Fuji - Sara Backer

This book was enjoyable enough, but at times I didn't understand the motivations for some of the main character's actions. At times it seemed like she could have simply explained things in plain language to clear up an issue and chose not to instead... which is exactly the roundabout way of communicating that Japanese people are accused of having in this book. Not sure what the author was going for there - ?

One thing this book had going for it was the inclusion of a decent amount of Japanese and other language explanations, and even a scene featuring a language class, which as a language junkie I loved. I actually took a year of college-level Japanese MANY years ago, so unfortunately I have forgotten most of it, but I did recognize words here and there and that made me happy.

The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Michael Chabon

This book's beautiful cover art has been tempting me for a few years now, but I managed to avoid it until it popped up on the Library Sale shelves for 50 cents and I took the plunge. I have mixed feelings about the author, as I feel he's talented but I've read a couple of his books now and I feel like they don't quite live up to the hype. This was no exception. I really liked the main characters and the noir mood/setting, and the story drew me in, but the resolution just ... wasn't as satisfying as I might have liked. That said, the writing was excellent.

One thing I feel compelled to mention is my shock at reading that some Amazon.com reviewers dogged the book as being full of Yiddish and therefore incomprehensible. Which book were these people reading? I'm a shiksa* with just a passing knowledge of random Yiddish words beyond several variations of oy vey**, but this book is not so full of Yiddish that those with no knowledge of it would have trouble understanding the book as written. In addition, the book includes a glossary so.... not sure what this ridiculous, baseless criticism is really about. As a language person (so therefore I am admittedly biased to enjoy the inclusion of other languages in books) I found this annoying. For the record, I loved the Yiddish, including the slang the author invented.

*a not-Jewish female
** in case you're curious, my favorite is oy vey iz mir

Trixie Belden and the Mysterious Code - Kathryn Kenny

This book requires me to have a review that contains spoilers. I doubt this will be a problem, but just in case you've time-travelled to this blog and are a 12 year old girl from the early 60s eagerly awaiting this next book in the series, 1) sorry in advance if I give away all its secrets and 2) can I please borrow your time machine? 

OK, this book threw me a little. First, the titular code barely appears in the book at all, so the title doesn't match the contents well - but I had a hard time coming up with an alternative - "Trixie Belden and the Possible Antique Thieves" just doesn't sing out from the bookshelf, you know? Reading this book it was hard to shake the idea that it was a parody of books from this era written in modern times, as so many weird or silly things happen:

• Trixie and Bobby are going home in a snowstorm and masked men rob them of a small wooden lapdesk 
• Trixie, her brother, and their friend Jim are lost in a blizzard and end up spending the night in a deserted cabin; during this ordeal Jim almost gets lost in the blizzard trying to find wood to start a fire, and a strange old man returns the stolen lap desk to this deserted cabin during the height of the blizzard - but doesn't knock on the door to announce his presence, help them get home, help them collect wood, etc. 
• The school board threatens to disband the kids' "secret club" that is so secret the entire town knows everything about it, including its name, all the members, etc. 
• The book mainly centers on the ups and downs of putting on a charity antique show and sale to raise money for UNICEF - so the not-so-secret-club won't get disbanded by the school board - which shouldn't have any jurisdiction over a non-school-related club in the first place... ??? 
• Mysteries, such as the code and a mysterious jewel box that's found in Honey's attic, are brought forth and then solved only a few pages later, lest we take time away from the antique show preparation 

I'm a fan of antiques and I have no problem supporting UNICEF, but this book was just out of place somehow compared to the other two books of this series I happen to own and have on hand. At the same time, its weirdness made it oddly endearing to me. It makes me wonder if the "Black Jacket Mystery" will end up being about how Trixie and her friends raise some chicks in the back yard after a cursory 2-page mystery about a newcomer to town who wears a black jacket and turns out to be selling chickens; or if the "Mystery of the Emeralds" is really just a half-page mixup about why Ireland is called the Emerald Isle after which Trixie and company spend the rest of the book riding horses through the woods after school. I joke because I love, really :)

Trixie Belden and the Mysterious Visitor - Julie Campbell

When I read these books I do have to ask myself - did people really ever live like this? Did kids really make "secret clubs" complete with matching embroidered jackets and etc.? In a way I kind of hope they did, even if in our modern times it seems hopelessly silly. If someone ever invents a time machine, I'll stop in a town like this and report back to you all here.

Trixie Belden and the Secret of the Mansion - Julie Campbell

Well, so much for reading for my challenges. Maybe because Fall has started, I wanted a sort of "comfort food" level of reading and so I revisited my old childhood "friend" Trixie Belden. The story isn't terribly complicated, the characters are rather simple, and the setting is a kind of small-town, just before World War II American life that probably never really existed. These books are a fast read that sometimes just hits the spot.

August - This Month in Reading

I managed to read a few more books than I had planned for this month - hooray! I read a total of 7 books, which was more than the goal of reading at least 4. I also made my goal of finishing my library books and of reading books from the TBR pile, one of which counted toward the Color-Coded Reading Challenge, so that's good.

On the down side, I didn't manage to read any of the actual TBR Pile Challenge books in August, but it's OK - my plan for September is to read 4 of these books for sure, and of course more if possible.

Longtime readers know that Fall (autumn) is my favorite time of year, and that Fall starts on September 1 in my mind, so BRING IT ON! I hate summer and I am thrilled to see another one end at midnight tonight. I'm ready for all the wonderful things Fall brings - cool weather; beautiful colorful leaves; sweaters and jackets; acorns, pinecones, and pumpkins; Halloween; pumpkin spice latte; school supplies in all the stores; etc. etc. etc. I couldn't be happier right now!

What is your plan for Fall reading?

G0ing R0gue - Sarah Pal1n

My sister in law sent me this book as a joke several years ago, and it's been gathering dust on the TBR shelves ever since. One reason for that was that I hate, loathe, despise politics, and have never been interested in them (I like literature, language, culture - things that can bring people together, not things that easily divide them on purpose). Having read this ghostwritten book now, I can honestly say that if you are a fan of the author, you will most likely continue to be a fan after reading this, and if you are a detractor, you will not change your mind after reading this. The best thing I can say about reading it is that I am now finished reading it LOL

If you're wondering, I didn't want to write the book's title or author's name in the title of this post because I don't want anyone searching for this book to find this site and infest it with politics. Yes, I am paranoid and it's silly, but I really hate politics that much, and it's WAY outside the scope of this blog to discuss them here.

Lost and Found - Carolyn Parkhurst

Yet another book that I think I saw on the bargain shelves at Borders every time I visited the store. I picked it up numerous times; the premise seemed interesting and I was intrigued by the characters, but I never actually bought the book until the last days sales. Having finally read it, it was enjoyable, and although the point of view switched between first-person narratives of many different characters, I thought the author did a nice job of differentiating them, so they didn't all sound the same. There were some things I was unsure of - one character seems to change and it's unclear why or what caused it; there are some implausible things but no more than in many other novels, I suppose. All in all it was a quick, enjoyable read worth the 60 cents I ended up paying for it.

Goldengrove - Francine Prose

This book takes its title from a poem I loved when I was younger and had put down in a book in which I'd handwrite poems I liked. I had sort of forgotten about the poem to be honest, and then seeing it on the page instantly reminded me of how much I liked it, and now that I'm (much) older, I see more in it than I did when I was younger, etc.

I can't transfer the way I feel about the poem to the way I feel about this book, unfortunately. It wasn't awful or anything, but... One of the many things I crammed into this summer was a writing class. I think I'm an decent judge of what constitutes poor writing in general, but this class has really made me more aware of things like a critique I have of this book - the narrator is supposed to be a 13 year old girl, but sounds like an adult. In addition, the characters all sounded very similar to me, despite differences in age, etc. Having now brushed with attempted writing myself, I know it's difficult to write dialogue and have that dialogue "sound" different for different speakers, etc., but as a beginner I give myself more slack than with experienced, published authors. So I have mixed feelings about this book. Sorry I can't be more definitive on this one!