Scars are stories, history written on the body. – Kathryn Harrison. Week 7

It took me a while to write about The Kiss.  I’m not going to lie… this story deeply disturbed and saddened me.  I was almost hesitant to pick it up after it piqued my interest.  The other day I was watching an episode of Oprah where Mackenzie Phillips was the guest.  She was talking about her book, High on Arrival, which talks about an incestuous relationship that she had with her father.  Kathryn Harrison was a guest on the show, speaking out about the consenual (and sexual) relationship that she had with her father starting at the age of 20. 

 

I’ve never read such a melancholy book.  Every page was dripping with sadness, hopelessness, and desperation.  I could almost feel Ms. Harrison’s depression and loss of self.  That being said, any book that incites that kind of emotion is a literary accomplishment in itself.  She has a way of crafting her words to make you not only read what she’s portraying… but to get you to feel it.  Almost as if you were experiencing it yourself.  I felt anxious and nervous to find out where this incestuous relationship would go next.  I was shocked and scared as I read it.

 

My first question was – How could a relationship between a father and daughter be consensual?  Something so wrong… so taboo.  Ms. Harrison explains that her father was the master manipulator, fully capable of playing on her insecurities and loneliness.  She was raised by her mother and her father was absent for much of her youth.  Despite his physical absence his presence still loomed large in her life.  Ms. Harrison’s mother remained in love with her father throughout her childhood, despite their separation.  Her father is described as charismatic and able to draw people to him easily.

 

The book was tastefully written, never delving into the “gritty” physical details of the relationship but focusing on the emotional aspects of it.  I was struck by how much courage Ms. Harrison has to share this story.  Putting a shameful and taboo situation out there and giving others the courage to step out and speak about incest and abuse candidly.

The best mirror is an old friend. – George Herbert. Week 6

  

Firefly Lane is a book about the ups and downs of female friendships.  Tully Hart and Kate Mularkey become friends during the summer of 1974.  Both in the 8th grade, Kate comes from an all-American family – dinner at 6pm every night, homework at the kitchen table, and in bed by 10pm.  Tully, on the other hand, is raised without any such structure.  Abandoned by her drug addicted mother and raised by her grandmother, Tully is raised with little guidance and a lot of self-doubt.  Kate runs into her one day at the bus stop and is immediately intrigued.  Tully is everything that Kate is not – boisterous, self-confident and outgoing.  They immediately hit it off and become fast friends.  The story follows Tullyandkate (they literally become a “unit” throughout the turbulent years of their adolescence) through the trials and tribulations of growing up. 

There’s a lot of life-lessons crammed into these 500 pages.  Female friendships are a complex and amazing thing to behold.  We had a great conversation about this at my book club the other night.  It is very rare to find women that have that one best friend that they’ve been close to for a long time.  Especially in my age group (late 20′s)… at this point many of us have graduated from college, got married, and moved on.  The test of a true friendship is whether or not your relationship will weather the storms of life.  I am blessed enough to say that I have been friends with my best friend since we were in the 4th grade.  This book really spoke to me and made me think of her. 

Tully and Kate make it through family issues, careers, starting their own families, jealousy and illness.  They are lucky enough to have someone always there (even if it’s a phone call away) to share in all of the “main events” of their lives.  I feel that this is something that every woman should have in their life.  Everyone woman deserves a shoulder to cry on, lean on… or both.

I was deeply moved by this book.  I am always a fan of a book that gets me to think about my own life.  I also am a sucker for a book that tugs at my heart.   Firefly Lane did both.  You won’t be able to put it down.  Just a tip:  make sure you have some kleenex handy.

Although I love the child I used to be, there is a woman who lives inside of me. – Week 5

The other day I happened upon a highly disturbing episode of Oprah.  Mackenzie Phillips was on there talking about her “consensual” relationship with her late father, John Phillips of 60′s rock band the Mamas & the Papas.  I’ll be honest, I’d never heard of Mackenzie Phillips.  My mom was a huge Mamas & Papas fan, so I was curious.  I watched the rest of the episode and was pretty shocked at how candid she was in talking about the relationship and drug abuse that she partook in with her father.  She was rolling joints for her father at 10.  Yeah, really messed up.

At first, I had a hard time reading the book.  Her writing is mediocre at best.  She seemed to have an over-inflated self-image of the relevance of the Mamas and the Papas and her career as well.  That being said, I am also 27 years old and obviously am from another generation.  I wonder if I would’ve felt more interested in this book if I’d grown up during that generation – 60′s pot-smokin’, hippie livin’, free-lovin’… and all that.

Her story was disturbing… but mostly sad.  She lived for her father’s acceptance and parenting.  Throughout her life she continued to seek his love, through a haze of drugs and partying.  She’d pretty much do anything that that he said.  She describes him exposing her to drugs, partying, and abuse from the age of 5.  Being abandoned at airports and one time in a rented house while he went out on a bender with the Rolling Stones Keith Richards.  Through it all, she just wanted a glimmer of attention from her father.  Something that sadly, she never got.

If you’re interested in this kind of story, I’d definitely recommend it to you.  Don’t expect it to be a life-changing literary experience though.  I’m glad that she’s healed enough to write about her story and I respect anyone with the cojones to write about something as taboo as incest.

If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared. – Machiavelli. Week 4.

 

I first became aware of Daniel Silva’s novels after randomly picking up The Confessor off the discount shelf at Books-A-Million.  It was a discarded library book and it sounded interesting… plus it was only $4. 

I literally could not put it down.  Silva writes books in a genre that usually held no interest for me.  I’d describe them as being similar to the Jason Bourne novels.  They are spy-thrillers - ripe with espionage, technology, and deception.  The stuff that makes for a great movie.  Anyways, despite the fact that they aren’t usually what I reach for, after reading The Confessor I was hooked.  They are like a non-stop thrill ride.  Since then, I’ve read all of Silva’s books and I have yet to be disappointed.  The main character is Gabriel Allon, part-time art restorer… part-time Israeli secret service badass.  Allon started his career with the Israeli secret service after heading the operation “Wrath of God,” a mission to retaliate against the Black September terrorists who killed the Isreali Olympic team at the 1972 games in Munich. 

The Defector picks up where Silva’s last book, Moscow Rules, left off.  Allon is thrust deep into the world of Soviet, ex-KGB villains and high-tech crime once again.  This time, it becomes personal for him.

All in all, I enjoy Silva’s books for what they are.  They are definitely action-packed and keep you turning those pages.  The only downfall is that they follow a very set formula.  I have a hard time remembering which one of the 11 Daniel Silva novels is which…

Boys. Yes, boys come next. After the blood come the boys. – Stephen King’s Carrie. Week 3

 

 

I found this book on the New Non-Fiction shelf at Barnes & Noble and I was immediately intrigued.  First off, it takes some serious cohonesto write an autobiography called “Loose.”  A memoir of promiscuity?  Wow, my curiosity killed me.  I sat down in the bookstore and read the first couple of chapters and decided that I needed to read it.  Not just because it seemed really entertaining… but because of the psychological aspect of it – What is someone who sleeps around like that truly looking for?  I was curious.  We’ve all been there… 20-somethings in college.  The drinking, the parties, the casual sex.  We’ve all been around it and all seen that one girl who was labeled “loose.”  The slut. 

 

Cohen’s book starts out with a childhood experience in which she first became aware of her sexuality and as she describes it – “The power that women have over men.”  That awareness and “power” leads her into endless casual sexual encounters.  throughout her high school and college years, Cohen’s life centers around getting (and keeping) male attention.  Her needs are embarrassing and all encompassing.  At the beginning of the book she states that she has lost count of how many partners she’s had – but she’s sure that it’s well over 40.  The encounters she describes are both comical and sad.  The frankness and honesty she uses to recount them is sometimes funny.  How sad and pathetic it is makes your heart ache.

 

After my initial reaction – How could someone think so little of themselves! – I started to feel true sadness for Cohen.  She had a difficult upbringing and grew up without her dad around.  I could really relate with that consuming need that she had for male attention.  For a long time, I felt like my world centered around the men in my life.  I was always looking for that male attention and once I had it, I let other aspects of my life fall to the wayside.  Maybe that’s why I was so drawn to her story?  Even though I never took it to the level she did, I could empathize with her need for attention.

 

I read the whole book in less than 24 hours.  It’s a light, conversational read.  It really gets you thinking about how women view themselves nowadays.  What’s important?  What do you want to be known for?  It made me think of how every woman needs to know themselves before they seek out a partner.  It made me realize just how instrumental self respect is in the upbringing of each and every woman in this world.

What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the word remains and is immortal. Week 2.

To live in the world without becoming

aware of the meaning of the world is

like wandering about in a great library

without touching the books.

 

 

 

It’s pretty obvious that Dan Brown’s books follow a set pattern. 

Really creepy villian (usually with some weird body modification) +

Incredible conspiracy/mystery that the general public is unaware of +

Preppy Harvard professor/symbologist Robert Langdon = A highly entertaining read.

 

That’s the key to reading a Dan Brown book.  Know that it’s entertaining and it will keep you on the edge of your seat.  If you’re looking for some great life-altering literary masterpiece – look elsewhere.  Dan Brown’s books keep you hooked and entertained all the way from start to finish.  If you’ve read The Da Vinci Code  or Angels and Demons, you will enjoy The Lost Symbol.

The Lost Symbol brings the charming Robert Langdon back into our life.  This time he’s not wandering around Europe solving mysteries… he’s come home to the good ol’ US of A and finds himself dead center in a mystery centered in our nation’s capitol.  The premise centers around an ancient secret guarded by the mysterious fraternal organization – The Freemasons. 

As in all of Dan Brown’s books, the technologies and history that he refers to is all fact.  That’s what I think makes his books so compelling to me.  He gives us a glimpse into a world that was right beneath our eyes – but we never knew it. 

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. Week 1.

Of his bones are coral made:

Those are pearls that were his eyes;

Nothing of him that doth fade,

But doth suffer a sea-change

Into something rich and strange.

 

 

First impressions of Sea Change:  I was completely sucked in by the cover of this book.  You can’t deny that it’s absolutely gorgeous.   It just screams sexy.  The book itself is a fun, light read… definitely a summer book.  I flew through about 100 pages within an hour because of the relaxed and easy feel of it. 

 

The story centers around Miranda, a 16 year old New-Yorker who is headed down to the mysterious Selkie Island, Georgia to stay at her recently-deceased grandmother’s house.  Miranda’s grandmother, Ms. Isadora Hawkins, was one of the most prestigious and well-known residents of Selkie Island.  Miranda’s mother, Amelia, had some type of a falling out with her late mother but despite this, she inherited her sprawling seaside mansion – aptly named The Mariner. 

 

Miranda isn’t your typical 16-year old.  She favors science museums to movie theaters.  She’d rather spend the evening watching the Discovery Channel than going on a date with a boy.  She’s tremendously smart and is on her way to becoming a doctor (following in her mother’s footsteps).  She’d actually planned to spend the summer at an internship with the Museum of Natural History when her grandmother passed away.  She decided to delay the intership for a month and spend the time down at Selkie helping her mother tend to her grandmother’s affairs.

 

Miranda immediately feels like an outside on Selkie Island.  It’s full of over-the-top southern belles who “summer” on Selkie on their husband’s dimes.  The girls she meets and befriends are ostentatious and flighty.  They immediately try to play matchmaker and set her up with a son of one of the most prestigious families on Selkie, the overly preppy and polite T.J. Illingsworth.  Miranda tries to have a good time with her new friends, but she soon discovers that no matter what she wears or how much makeup she puts on… she’ll never be one of the “debutantes” of Selkie Island.

 

One night, while Miranda’s trying to escape the obnoxious girls of Selkie, she wanders onto the beach for a walk and runs into a mysterious and gorgeous local.  She befriends Leo and is immediately attracted to him.  They share a love of animals and science and hit it off from the get go.  At first things are smooth sailing, but then Miranda starts to notice some strange happenings on Selkie Island.  The place is steeped in lore which Miranda initially brushes off as a joke – mermen, krakens, and sea serpents?  Let’s be serious here.  But after a few sketchy meetings with Leo that leave a lot of questions unexplained… Miranda starts to wonder if the stories have some truth to them.

 

Sea Change is interwoven with all the things that make a great story – romance, drama, and mystery.  I found myself drawn in and devoured the book in a couple of days.  I’d definitely recommend it to someone looking for a light-hearted and fun read.

A book a week?

I told my husband about my book-a-week goal for 2009/2010 and he kinda looked at me in disbelief.  I am determined!  Not just to prove him wrong of course…

Edit…

So, I abandoned The Elegance of the Hedgehog.

Yes, I realize that this probably makes me look like a flake for giving up the first book I was supposedly going to review… but let me explain.

I read about 100 pages of the book.  By halfway through this, I found my mind wandering while I was reading.  I felt like the author was trying her damndest to throw in as many elaborate vocabulary words as she could possibly fit.  You know when you read something that’s been overdone with SAT-worthy vocabulary words… just for the sake of throwing them in there?  They didn’t add to the story… if anything they made it nearly impossible for me to wade through the flowery mess to find out what the heck was happening in the story.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the use of interesting and colorful language.  I teach writing to 8 and 9 year olds… I’m always at the front of my class with my arms up proclaiming – “GIMME WOW WORDS!  No boring writing in here!”

But seriously Ms. Barbery, sometimes you gotta know when enough is enough.

I’m a big proponent of finding the right book for you.  Another thing I tell my students – “Find a book that you like!  There are millions of books out there.  There is no reason for you to force your way through something that you don’t enjoy.” 

So change of plans.  I’ll be delving into a book a teacher friend of mine gave me, Sea Change by Aimee Friedman.

And so it begins…

Ever go into a bookstore just to wander?  I do it all the time.  I start at the front with the new releases and peruse until something catches my eyes.  I pick up the book and run my fingers along the spine before opening it.  I quickly glance at the back but I rarely read the summary.  If a few words catch my attention, I open it up and flip through the pages.  Sometimes if no one is looking, I’ll hold the book up to my face and take in that glorious scent.  New pages just waiting to be discovered.  I can usually tell if it’s something I want to read after reading two sentences or so.  If I’m hooked in by that quick glimpse, it’s mine.  If I lose interest that quickly… back to the shelf it goes. 

 

I work my way around the store… literature, travel writing, young adult, and biographies.  My husband wanders back to the Sci-Fi and we lose each other for a bit.  I’ll stop to grab a tea which I’ll rest on the shelves while I pick up random books that catch my eye. 

 

Finally, there it is… one that’s intrigued me enough to come home with me tonight.

 

I’ve had a love affair with books ever since I was a child.  I started reading at three and never stopped.  I remember getting in trouble for bringing a book to the dinner table.  I had a spot on the couch at my mother’s… right at the end, under a lamp, conveniently located next to the end table.  I’d take my stack of library books and disappear into my fantasy world while my family watched TV.  I vividly remember my grandmother saying with exasperation, “You read too much!” 

 

Read too much?  I’ve never heard something ludicrous in my life!

 

Nowadays, it’s hard for me to find the time to dedicate to reading like I used to.  Work has me swamped and there’s just not enough time to read something for pleasure anymore.

 

Tonight I decided that this just wouldn’t do. 

 

Why push aside something that gives me such happiness?  Stress is a major issue in my life right now and part of it has to do with me not taking time for me.  Well reading is just for me.  Some people use television to unwind, well I’m going to use books.

 

So in the next year I plan on reading a book a week.  Not mind-numbingly boring work books… but things that I’ve had sitting on my shelves just calling to me for months.  Things I’ve put aside because there “just wasn’t time.”

 

Lord of the Flies, Rebecca, the Great Gatsby… I’ll definitely be hitting up the classics that I’ve forgotten since High School.

 

Twilight, The Lovely Bones, The Lost Symbol… pop-culture favorites and new releases.

 

Anything’s fair game!  And so it begins!

 

First up, The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.