Lynness, sci-fi and scary

I haven't posted for a while for 2 reasons. 1) seminary started and 2)
I haven't found a satisfying sci-fi book. Not that I haven't been
reading. I read several stories some sci-fi, some not, from Orson Scott
Card's "Maps in a Mirror." I think the short story, like the one-panel
cartoon, takes real talent to pull off well. And he does. Most of what I
read was very memorable. Some disturbing, some brilliant, some both, but
very memorable. But, I wasn't satisfied. So checked the shelves for a
couple of the big names in sci-fi in the library. I ended up taking
Arthur C. Clarke's "The Songs of Distant Earth," which I found very
mediocre, though I did like his very believable but brief attention to
the social reaction of earth's peoples after they find out that the sun
will be going super-nova by a certain date (some have the "eat, drink,
and be merry, for tomorrow we die" attitude, some use all their talent
and wealth to try to find solutions for taking people off earth and
transporting them to other planets, some use it as proof that there is a
God - we've been wicked and he's done with the warnings- and others use
it as proof that there is none, etc.).
I am interested in the idea of alternate histories (which comes into
sci-fi when the idea of billions of other alternate universes where just
one little decision is different and is reachable by means of science)
and read a few alternate history short stories, but still was not
satisfied. So I kept looking. I've requested a few that I've heard of,
to see what they're like "The Positronic Man" (from Abby), "Ringworld,"
but haven't received them yet. I like sci-fi, generally. Not the
multitude of Star Trek sequels and spin-offs type, but I am not opposed
to suspending reality and imagining the future or anything (I do have a
friend who dislikes books or movies based on anything that is not REALLY
possible, so she doesn't like any sci-fi or fantasy, including HP,
etc... I however, have no such aversion). But I want something that is
satisfying. I don't know exactly what I mean by that, since I haven't
taken the time to figure it out, but I did find "The Host" satisfying
(but couldn't count it for this month, since I had already read it...)
If I find another that is satisfying (or if you find one for me!) Then
I'll post it.
As for October, I don't like to be scared, either...I'll see what I can
find. Maybe a Michael Crichton sort of thriller. That might be right for
me.

What Maddie's Reading

Maddie doesn't seem too excited about this blog so I'm posting instead of her, but I want to tell you all what she's going to read this year for AP Lit. The students are supposed to "live with an author." They read four of the author's major works during the school year and write papers about them. She came home with a list of authors so long that it made me wish this was my assignment and that somebody would make sure I could get around to it. Maddie asked me for advice, so I told her which authors I thought would appeal most to her. She decided on Alexandre Dumas, with the four major works The Count of Montecristo, The Black Tulip, The Man in the Iron Mask, and The Three Musketeers.

Enough to Creep Me Out

For October I'll read The Bodysnatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson--it's only 16 pages so I know I can do it! I'm studying to take the GRE again but if I can find enough time I also want to read The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary, by Simon Winchester. That's one that Mother and Rae gave me some time ago.

I'm still reading Frankenstein although it's gotten so totally unbelievable (REALLY sci-fi) that it's bogging down a bit in the middle. I mean, how could the monster stay hidden in a lean-to at the back of the house for a year and learn all the beauties of the English language by watching the family in the house through a chink in the wood while listening to them converse every evening? Come on! But I still find the language fun.

I like to scare myself if it's stuff that won't be too gross and realistic. I like true crime sometimes, especially from the viewpoint of the forensic detective. As for Halloween, I can tolerate it now but only because I have grandchildren.

Rae: October Ghouls and Ghosties

I really don't like All Hallow's Eve or being scared, but tis the season so...our pick for the month of October will be any title that scares you silly. It can be fiction OR non-fiction (your choice) and it should have the potential to make you want to read during the day with lots of people around. We each have our own "fright" factor...it doesn't take much to make me shiver...so choose your title accordingly. Explain to us why the book frightened or fizzled...whichever the case may be!

Happy reading!

From Somewhere Between Japan and Hogwarts

Hello Everybody! I've been following the blog with great interest but I haven't posted for many months. I've even been reading, most months. In February when we were all reading a romance or relationship book, I read The Shadow Wife by Dorothy Eden. The romance or relationship was warped! But at least the setting was Denmark, so I enjoyed that. And there was enough suspense to keep me hooked.

In the spring when we were all reading Newbery winners and kid-friendly read-alouds, I chose Esperanza Rising (by Pam Munoz Ryan) because Maddie had been begging me to read it. Just as Beccy reads things for Curt. Esperanza Rising was a beautiful book that I'll always remember, and better yet, it created a stronger bond between Maddie and me. I'm convinced that a lot of the books we love are loved for those family-connection reasons, and that's a fun thing about this family book club.

I also read Holes, by Louis Sachar, knowing that Rae H and Beccy and Maddie all loved it. (It was one of my Newbery reads.) Then I cuddled with Maddie on the couch and watched the movie version. More memories!

I read The Whipping Boy (Sid Fleischman)--I think that was my choice in the month that we chose kid-friendly read-alouds. I'm convinced I would've enjoyed it ten times more if I had been reading it aloud to a kid, especially one of my grandchildren. I might even have considered it a classic if I'd done that. Like I said, who we read with/for can really influence what we think of a book. This one's silly and elementary school level, but not super. I notice there's quite a big difference between one Newbery and another, don't you all?

I need to escape to the other side of Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters fairly often, so I've continued with the Harry Potter books that I'd started some years ago. I'm in #5 now and they're all so delightful. My Fantasy read for August was #4. It's hard for me to enjoy fantasy but Harry Potter suits me to a T.

My Relief Society book group decided to read the Twilight books for October (a Halloween theme, I guess) and I know a few of you have read them. But I can't take an interest in any of that, so I'll just tell them about my September Sci-Fi read for the Hawkes book club, which is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. I'm halfway through it and enjoy it as much as Harry Potter, even as different as those two are. I love the way the Victorian authors, when they weren't just being verbose, could say so much in so few words because they had enough vocabulary. It's kind of a lost art.

All of these books are fiction but I love my nonfiction options and could never live without them. So when we all read books associated with our own locations, for July, I read Hiroshima (John Hersey) along with Blake and Maddie, while the Hinkles were here. I would've loved it at any point in my life, but it's far more meaningful since I've come to Japan. I also read one Rae and I found here (she read it too and mentioned it in this blog) called Nine Who Survived Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Robert Trumbull). It hadn't occurred to us that some few people lived through the A-bombing of Hiroshima and then happened to be in Nagasaki three days later when that city was bombed. Talk about bad luck! The situation keeps reminding me of one of Mother's favorite jokes--the one that inspired the name of one of our cats--where "Clyde" wonders aloud to God why everything goes wrong for him. (Like Stanley Yelnats in Holes?) And the voice from heaven says, "I don't know, Clyde, something about you just ticks me off." Anyway, it was fascinating to read of people's varied responses, weak and strong, to the crisis of the A-bombing. And to know there will be more events like that in our own lifetimes.

I'm nibbling at several other books over a period of time, and they're the perfect thing when I pick them up, the way you want to eat something sometimes and you know that the very thing you need is an orange, or a bag of popcorn, or a cucumber. (I think I associate the fiction more with chocolate.) I'm still reading No More Words, by Reeve Lindbergh. I have to take it in small pieces, since it's about Reeve's gradual loss of her mother Anne (read by Rae and Beccy and needing to be shared with me). Also This Is Your Brain on Music (Daniel J. Levitin) and Language in Thought and Action (S. I Hayakawa) are great favorites right now.

Well I'm sure this is all anyone wants to see in one post, so I'll make an effort to write in "littles" that come more often. I love the sharing we do here. I must go now and start some bread for tonight's special guests. This has been the priority, though--like a lot of you I'd usually rather read than cook! Mim/Mom

Hi everybody, this is maddie! The one and only. And this post itself is a test. To be honest, I didn't feel like making a comment at all but mom wanted me to just to see if it would work since the computer was giving her trouble. And she thinks I should mention the books I've recently read. Well I read "Born on a Blue Day" by Daniel Tammet. I liked it because it was really new and interesting. He's an autistic savant, and he happens to be gay too. Interesting. Anyways, this is a long enough comment for a test. Bye!

Liz: I'm so excited!

Hi! I'm so excited because I actually read a fantasy book in a timely manner for our book blog club! (I don't really have much time now to report on it though!!) I read A Wrinkle in Time, for the first time, if you can believe that. Overall it left me with a good feeling, and I would like to read it again a couple of times because there's a lot in it to ponder. My favorite character is Charles Wallace. He reminds me of my Joshua, actually. I enjoyed the read, carrying the book around with me as I did laundry (or as I pretended to do laundry) and other things.

I highly recommend reading the author's Newbery Medal Acceptance Speech. It's really short but it says some profound things.

Love you all,
Liz

Lulu: HP

I'm re-reading the Harry Potter series. I've been reading the first one to the boys, and although I'm not sure just how much of it they're really absorbing/understanding, they're very quiet and thoughtful and enjoying it when I read. And most of Reed's questions suggest that he is getting the gist of it.

We're over halfway through. But a couple of nights ago, after I finished reading to them, I wanted to keep reading by myself. So I did, and finished it the next morning. :) And then I decided I wanted to read the whole series all over again, and I'm almost halfway through the 2nd one today. It has helped in my recent early-morning wake-up endeavor to have a good book to look forward to. This morning at 6:10, the words actually ran through my head, "It's okay, it's okay, you can read The Chamber of Secrets after you've run and the kids are fed and dressed!" Hee hee....oh, the power of a good book. So count that as my fantasy read, I suppose, and I guess Ender's Game will be my sci-fi read. Honestly though, I might not even touch it again until I'm done with HP.

Lulu: Leary of looney librarians literary tastes

Disclaimer: If any of you wonderful family members love any of these books I mention in less-than-glowing ways, know I don't intend to offend. Reading tastes are reading tastes, eh?

I have concluded that the two librarians (who recommended Dandelion Wine, Janet Evanovich's first three Stephanie Plum books, and The Name of the Wind) here (at the Santa Clara library) do not have reading tastes close to mine.

I started reading Dandelion Wine and just couldn't stay put. My mind wandered and I was a little bored and it felt like a chore to keep reading. However, I'm thinking of reading Fahrenheit 451, since I seem to remember Abby reading that and loving it. (Didn't you, Abby?)

I read the first Stephanie Plum book and wasn't sure how much I liked it. But I think I can conclusively say it was a colossal waste of time. I didn't hate it, but there are probably at least 100 other books I would have enjoyed reading better than that one.

Today I picked up The Name of the Wind from the hold shelf at the library, and after reading the inside cover and trying not to yak all over it, I'm 100% certain that 1)I will not read it and 2)The librarian who recommended it most definitely does not share my reading tastes. I didn't "almost yak" because it was gross.

It was just....oh, maybe I'm just a book snob. But it seemed so.....contrived? I'm having a hard time coming up with words of description. I guess all fiction is "contrived" to some point--but this writing was not my taste, not convincing, and reminded me faintly of a Harlequin romance novel I accidentally picked up from a used book shelf years ago. (I'm certain I offended a number of store patrons when I got to the bottom of the first page and emitted a very loud disgusted groan as I put it back on the shelf. In my defense, I was fifteen.) It's not that the writing in The Name of the Wind was suggestive or even romantic--just Harlequin-y, somehow. (If you like Harlequin romance novels, well.....I'm sorry....sorry that you like them.)

So anyway, I've picked up a few Barbara Michaels books--I think I've already read all the Elizabeth Peters ones, sadly, except for a few of the Amelia Peabody ones--and a couple of Fannie Flagg's. I will be reading Ender's Game and most probably The Host. Hopefully they both fall into either/both science fiction and fantasy. Oh, and Fahrenheit 451.