Completed: South African books for my history class

This past term, I took a general upper-division course on South African history. I took it because I knew next to nothing about South African history - I knew Apartheid had been, I knew it ended in large part because of Nelson Mandela in 1994, and I knew it struggled economically both before then and since.

That was really all I knew. And this was laid quite abruptly bare to me once I started this class. The history of South Africa is complex, multifaceted and painful (as is the history of many other nations), but of this one I knew next to nothing. It was a big learning curve, and a difficult but enriching class.

As recommendations based on the class, I would suggest watching the movie 'Last Grave at Dimbaza' and 'Tsotsi' - though all the movies we watched were great, these two may have been the most impactful for me.

For reading, we read three books, and parts of many others. The three full reads were:

Title: South Africa in World History
Author: Iris Berger
Published: 2009
Pages: 163

Iris Berger's brief overview is too brief, in my opinion. Without our other sources, what she wrote would have lacked depth enough to be impactful. As a piece of a bigger puzzle it was OK, but on its own wasn't very helpful.

Title: The South Africa Reader: History, Culture, Politics
Author: Clifton Crais, Thomas V. McClendon eds.
Published: 2013
Pages: 624

This was probably my favorite reader that I've ever had, except perhaps one I had for an Anthropology of Art class as an undergrad. It was full of enriching, challenging, raw and important documents. Though we didn't read each and every selection, we read the large majority of this book (and a lot of the page count was references, so it wasn't as enormous as it sounds). I'm glad I read this reader - not a normal sentiment among university students!

Title: The Heart of Redness
Author: Zakes Mda
Published: 2000
Pages: 288

I am a bit embarrassed to say that this was, I believe, my first reading of a work of fiction by an African author. It was a historical fiction that brought to life the world of the Xhosa Cattle Killing, along with a modern parallel story connected to the past. I believe my prof called it mysticism - the indigenous Xhosa beliefs integrated into the narrative. Mda is a beautiful writer, and it was an excellent read. From the course I have several other novels and books that I will tackle eventually. This book and this class were definitely a case of 'for every book I read, I find three more. At least'!

Total Books Blogged: 60

Total Pages: 17,329

Completed: The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

This was the second-to-last bedtime book I read with the kids (I'm going to try to get through a lot of blog updates today and tomorrow, to be up-to-speed for the new year!). It sounded similar to Artemis Fowl, which we enjoyed so much, so it seemed promising.

I will put the caveat in here that the boys really enjoyed this book. This is why it got 3/5 on Goodreads. All on my own, I probably would have given it a 2. The story was not horrible, but was outlandish and difficult-to-believe enough that it would have needed to have been pulled off with Rowling-esque finesse to be great. And Stewart isn't Rowling. The dialogue didn't flow well, the events felt pieced together, and none of it really brought you into that world - rather, you felt you were reading a book about a story. It never got to a point where you were forgetting you were reading a book at all, that you just got lost in the story. 

So, for me it was meh, and for the boys it was a lot of fun. I do note, though, that they haven't asked for any sequels, so perhaps not their favorite series in that regard (Artemis was an immediate sequel the next time we hit the library!). 

Title: The Mysterious Benedict Society (#1)

Author: Trenton Lee Stewart

Published: 2007

Pages: 487

Total Books Blogged: 57

Total Pages: 16,254

Completed: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More by Roald Dahl

Hm. There are 7 stories in this book, and I've started to really love short stories - I'll be looking for more of them to read. Here are the 7, from the best read to the worst one, in my opinion:

The Mildenhall Treasure

• The second and last non-fiction Dahl ever wrote. As an archaeologist, it's wonderful!

A Piece of Cake, and Lucky Break

• The first piece of non-fiction Dahl ever wrote, and the context thereof. And it is beautiful - much like Mowat in how poignantly it speaks to the human aspect of war. I learned a lot about Dahl reading this story, and its context.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

• This is one of the cleverest short stories I've ever read. You just want to believe it is true. Wonderful indeed!

The Hitchhiker, The Boy Who Talked with Animals

• These two were interesting. Snapshots, almost, and you wonder what inspired Dahl to write them, as they seem so ordinary, and yet when you think through it they're certainly worth their stories unto themselves.

The Swan

• Just don't even read this story. I was disturbed after reading it, and I get very cringe-y thinking about it. Good on Dahl for being able to create so realistically such a hideous picture for his readers, but I just can't understand how this would be a young adult story, and what would have inspired its creation. 

Title: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More

Author: Roald Dahl

Published: 1945 (originally) - 1998 (this version)

Pages: 225

Total Books Blogged: 56

Total Pages: 15,767

Damn - 5 months

Between class, summer vacation/travel, class again, class a third time, getting back to school, and just the fact that I have been reading quite a bit! No real excuses, but there you have it. It hasn't been a priority.

I tried a challenge once - for a few days, rather than ever saying 'I don't have the time', replace those words with 'it just isn't a priority for me'. It re-frames all of your actions as choices, and what you prioritize becomes much clearer. So - my blog has not been a priority, and this is a super-small catchup post. I will do all of the books since The Professor and the Madman, with a few sentences about each, because I don't have the energy to stress over writing each book up. So here we go:

Title: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Published: 1886 (originally)
Pages: 64

The copy I read definitely had more pages than this, but it is indeed a short, heartbreaking story. It's a story we're all familiar with, but that I actually had all wrong. It is not a horror/scary story, in my opinion - it is a tragedy. Such an incredible read, and something that for sure I wasn't expecting. Recommend.

Title: A Christmas Carol and Other Stories
Author: Charles Dickens
Published: 1843 (originally)
Pages: 368

Actually my first Dickens! I feel bad admitting that, but am glad I finally tackled some. The Chimes was probably my favorite story in here, as it epitomizes the 19th century industrialization and the paternalistic attitude of the rich at the time - the historical accuracy is painful to read.

Title: James and the Giant Peach
Author: Roald Dahl
Published: 1961 (originally)
Pages: 146

Though of course a fond childhood classic movie, James and the Giant Peach is not my favorite Roald Dahl book. I enjoyed it, but I've enjoyed others more. Read this out loud to the boys at bedtime - there's several more selections here that fell into that category :)

Title: History of the Canadian Peoples vol 2: 1867-Present
Author: Margaret Conrad, Alvin Finkel
Published: 2009
Pages: 456

Relatively dry first-year Canadian history textbook for class. Nuff said.

Title: Hyperbole and a Half
Author: Allie Brosh
Published: 2013
Pages: 369

If you haven't read Brosh's original blog upon which this book is based (and is by the same name), read it. Read both. Just read it all - it's hilarious, raw, honest, emotional and laugh-out-loud funny.

Title: The Enormous Egg
Author: Oliver Butterworth
Published: 1958 (originally)
Pages: 188

I think I pulled this from a Goodreads young-boys reading list- this too was a bedtime story. It is a totally fun tale of a boy whose chicken lays a dinosaur egg, and hatches out a dinosaur. In a more recent book, hilarity would ensue. In this one, it's a very practical, emotional response in trying to do what's best for the dinosaur, which was a very 50s, refreshing perspective. However, a farm family in the 50s also has a lot of gender roles, so I worked through that with the kids too...!

Title: A Little Princess
Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett
Published: 1902 (originally)
Pages: 242

Read this version - the drawings and typeface were so pretty, it helped to make the story! I loved loved loved this movie when I was a kid. I am normally good with knowing which movies come from books, but in this case I did not know this was a book until relatively recently. I read much of this book while drinking Starbucks in Plantation, Florida, waiting for my bestie to get out of dental assistant school and getting geared up for her wedding. The book is plotted somewhat differently than the movie, and well worth a read. With a latte. In a coffee shop. It's the right book for that.

Title: Late Victorian Holocausts: El Nino Famines and the Making of the Third World
Author: Mike Davis
Published: 2000
Pages: 464

This book was a total slog - the first third was totally heartbreaking, the second third just so incredibly dense in scientific information. I think I spend about three months reading this book. I understand now why la nina/el nino are so difficult to predict, and I also understand so much more about how 20th century India came to be, and just how callous the British Empire could be regarding non-white human life. This book is one of the most valuable historical analyses I have ever read. A total toughie but absolutely worth it.

Title: Superfudge
Author: Judy Blume
Published: 1980
Pages: 182

Fun story: I was pen pals with Judy Blume in middle school for a year or so. One of our projects in Grade 6 was to write to an author. I chose her, and lo and behold, she wrote back! We exchanged a few letters. I'm sure I'm the one who let it fall off. But either way - one of the coolest school projects ever.

This is a book that I actually heard (and read over J's shoulder). He read it out loud at bedtime, a bit each day. I think he relates to free-spirit Fudge. I hear it all in his voice when I think about it :)

Title: E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core
Author: William Joyce
Published: 2012
Pages: 251

This is our second Joyce book - we also read Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King. We loved that one (both the physical book and the story), so we got another one, and this one was just as much fun. This was another read-aloud-at-bedtime book. They are whimsical, young and fun, but with plenty of story to engage you. Read him, it'll make you feel young.

Title: George's Marvellous Medicine
Author: Roald Dahl
Published: 1981
Pages: 120

Yet another bedtime book! G is almost 12, and yet we do stories every night still. I'll be sad to ever give it up. George's is much more a favorite Dahl book :)

Title: And No Birds Sang
Author: Farley Mowat
Published: 1979 (originally)
Pages: 245

Though it was a shorter book, this is one of the most impactful books I have ever read, bar none. Mowat captures, raw and unpolished, the havoc, fear, anger, and desperation of an average soldier during WWII. The numbers of that conflict are so overwhelming, it's hard to remember each person was just that - a person, with emotions, with family. Nothing has ever provided such a crucial human element to the conflict as Mowat did for me. Read this damn book.

Title: A Dog Year: 12 Months, Four Dogs, and Me
Author: Jon Katz
Published: 2002
Pages: 212

Uhm. Hm. The dogs were beautiful, their stories were worth the read. But similar to A. J. Jacobs, I don't totally love this author. He's a bit unapologetic for being the way he is, and the way he is doesn't sound like company I would want to keep. For this reason, I won't be reading more by him (same as Jacobs). But this book was nice. My boss owns a border collie, and she LOVED this book (and so did her Mom). So to each their own!

Title: Anne of Green Gables
Author: L. M. Montgomery
Published: 1908 (originally)
Pages: 320*

*This is the first book I read via an app called Serial Reader, so the page count is from a print copy.

I am Canadian, a girl, and for 5 years was very good friends with someone who loved Montgomery almost as an idol. So how, you might ask, did I avoid reading the Anne books? The answer is - I don't know how I hadn't yet read any of them. So, I started! Anne is positively charming, Marilla's heart is so large, and Matthew is just charming. I'll read the others too, once I get there.

Title: Three Cups of Tea
Author: Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin
Published: 2006
Pages: 349

A beautiful book. Unfortunately it's a crock. But I'm all for education of women all over the world so... someone should keep doing the work this book claims to be doing? Sigh.

Title: The Art of Racing in the Rain
Author: Garth Stein
Published: 2006
Pages: 321

Just read this book. It is the only book that has ever moved me to sobbing. No, not a glistening tear - full-blown sobbing. But goodness, SUCH a beautiful story, so well-written. I don't like car racing, couldn't care less - but still couldn't tear myself away from Enzo. Just read it, promise?

--

That's 16 books! I'm pretty proud of myself. There's a few others on the list, some comic books - maybe I'll add those at some point. But I've been reading a lot, and that's what counts!

Total Books Blogged, including all the ones in this post (OMG so many books): 55
Total Pages: 15542 (That's more than 4000 new pages!)

Of all the ones in this post, which one should you read the most?: The Art of Racing in the Rain. Oh just read it.

Completed: The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

OK to be fair, I finished this book in November, according to Goodreads. But also according to Goodreads, I am ten (TENNN) books behind on the blog. I have read more than I have written, but I wouldn't have it the other way around. 

The Professor and the Madman was a fascinating tale. I love when history is written in a way that reads as though it is a novel, and Winchester certainly accomplishes this, though the subject matter surely makes it a relatively breezy task. If you are looking for a juicy tale of murder, intrigue, insanity, dedication, and heartbreak, this is one for you. I could hardly put it down, I enjoyed it so much. 

I wrote a few notes on my phone about this book. One was a definition, which I'll put in a separate post in a moment. The second says 'p. 142 - old books'. The problem is I no longer have this book - I sent it, along with some toddler clothes, back to my little sis (as I had borrowed it from her). So - I highly recommend taking this book out, reading it (as it is wonderful), and paying special attention to page 142 and whatever it is that I thought was so brilliant about what was said on that page. Then someone tell me what it was!

Title: The Professor and the Madman
Author: Simon Winchester
Published: 2005
Pages: 288

Total Books Blogged: 39
Total Pages: 11,245

Completed: The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

Last year, I read several books that were ones I felt I should have read in childhood that I never did (for example, Tuck Everlasting). This is another one that I feel everyone read when they were a kid - rounding out their bunny lit with all of the Peter Cottontail books! I didn't realize it was only from 1987 - I would have guessed decades older, in a golden-books kind of way.

But I never did read this one, til I found it for free on my iBooks app (whatever it's called - the one where you can have books on your phone). Things like Kindls are a topic for another post (I hate them), but having a quick bit to read on your phone can be very nice. The Velveteen Rabbit was my phone book.

Oh, to be young and not have this book attack my heart in such a forlorn way. To feel all too Real while reading all about a velveteen rabbit's journey to Real-ness. If it wasn't a part of your childhood, make it part of your adulthood - it's free, and it's available on your phone.

Title: The Velveteen Rabbit
Author: Margery Williams
Published: 1987
Pages: 40

Total Books Blogged: 38
Total Pages: 10,957

Completed (awhile ago): The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Jekyll and Hyde is one of those things you hear about when you're a kid. Its names are used as characterizations of personality, as a reference for people having split personality-style attitudes. But it's also a book. A book written in fun, older English. Not a long read, and perfect for around Halloween time - which is when I did read it. 

How much has the modern 'Jekyll and Hyde' idea strayed from the original? Quite a bit, as far as how much the book differed from my childhood impression of its title characters. I was expecting a Halloween-appropriate, creepy monster. In the end, I was left feeling tremendous sadness for Jekyll and all that he suffered. It is not the classic battle between good and evil that a simplistic modern interpretation makes it out to be. It is a tragedy, a man finding a liberation that ends up being his jailer and his self-inflicted end. The humanity of Jekyll, his trying to protect the world from himself, was both touching and pitiable. 

I love Stevenson's writing. I'll read more of him. Kidnapped? Treasure Island? 

Title: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Author: Robert Louie Stevenson

Published: 1886 (originally)

Pages: 144

Total Books Blogged: 37

Total Pages: 10,917

Completed (ages ago): The Orenda by Joseph Boyden

I started a new degree in September. Oh, yes I did... I started school in September and totally and completed fell off the blog. However, I am proud to say that I did not stop reading. I have, between books for school and books for fun, read seven books to add to the blog. I will try to get to most of them soon, so that I'm caught up. This term I've only chosen one class, instead of two, so I should have a somewhat better balance of time!

The Orenda ended up on my Goodreads list from a Buzzfeed list about 'Books you won't be able to put down'. I often read those lists, and if a book sounds amazing, I'll add it to my to-read list on Goodreads. That list has ballooned to over 150 books. My house contains hundreds upon hundreds that I also have not read. Yet somehow I keep buying books!

I didn't realize that The Orenda was a critically acclaimed book this past year, or that so many of my friends and colleagues were either reading it or wanted to do so. I just felt like getting a good long book, and picked this one.

The Orenda is a journey of astounding composition. I can genuinely say that all Canadians, each and every one, should read this book. It is an important piece of history, though it is historical fiction - it depicts in heart-wrenching detail the truth and the humanity behind the history of early contact between First Nations and Europeans.

Unlike the Buzzfeed list title, I could indeed put this book down. In fact, it took some time for me to get into it (probably the first hundred pages or so), and there were times further along that my heart needed a break. This book is a heavy, difficult read that will add value, knowledge and perspective to the life of all Canadians, especially those who are not familiar with First Nations history. But it is heavy. Even sitting and writing this blog, I think back on some of the book and realize how profoundly and permanently impactful it was. It is not casual reading - it demands your attention, and occasionally stabs you with its reality and truth.

But read it. Please, please read it.

Title: The Orenda
Author: Joseph Boyden
Published: 2013
Pages: 501

Total Books Blogged: 36
Total Pages: 10,773

Completed: Merde Actually by Stephen Clarke

I'm kinda bummed that this is the book that will push me over the 10,000 page mark. I'm pretty proud of that milestone, but this book was only mediocre.

I feel like a lot of the details I could overlook with moderate ease in the first book - the misogyny, the oversexualized everything, the arrogance of the main character - I could not ignore in the context of this book's plot. I found myself hoping I was almost done. I think most of my surprise moments in the book consisted of how willing French women were to sleep with the chauvinist main character. I've known a few French women - and they don't sleep with just anyone!

If there were more books in this series, I would not read them. But this is the last one.

Title: Merde Actually
Author: Stephen Clarke
Published: 2005
Pages: 448

Total Books Blogged: 35
Total Pages: 10,272 

Completed (again): A Year in the Merde by Stephen Clarke

Why is this titled Completed (again)? Well, I have read this book before. It has been years, and it was as though I was reading it for the first time, as I had no recollection of the story - nothing rang a bell. Hard to believe I once read it at all!

It was OK. I have the follow-up, too, which is called Merde Actually. I'll probably power through it quickly. Paul (the main character) is a bit of a chauvinistic pig, and so relatively distasteful. The kind of person I used to avoid in bars because I (rightly) guessed about his opinions of women. He kept finding beautiful, confident French women to sleep with, and, having known a few beautiful, confident French women, I would be surprised that they would all fall into bed with that kind of guy. 

Meh - it was a fluffy summer book, with some fun comedy mixed into some things that made my feminist self cringe. We'll see if book #2 does any better!

Title: A Year in the Merde
Author: Stephen Clarke
Published: 2004
Pages: 383

Total Books Blogged: 34
Total Pages: 9824

Completed: Fifteen by Beverly Cleary

Oh, it has been a long time since I read a Beverly Cleary book. I think anyone about my age read some when they were a teen, but I don't think I've picked one up in, oh, 15 years?

This one was quaint. In many ways nothing like my teenage years, and in many ways exactly like my teenage years. 

It is set in the 50s, it would seem. There is discussion of girdles, buckled shoes, soda floats, wearing gloves and hats on dates, and dieting (which you wouldn't see in a book about teenagers nowadays!). There's dates to dances, trading dances with another couple, and of course, everyone's old-fashioned favorite, 'going steady'!

None of these were part of my teenage years (except for desperate dietary attempts to GAIN weight, as I was quite pitifully underweight due to my out-of-control metabolism as a teen!).

However, the second-guessing, always trying to fit in, trying to find confidence, frustrating babysitting gigs, cute boy crushes, long phone calls with your best friend, and parents just not getting it, well, I had all of those things...!

It was an easy read. I'm finding that tossing a young adult novel in every once in awhile just adds a nice balance to my reading - not everything needs to be an intense roller-coaster of prime-quality, award-winning literature. This quick read is proof that spending a few nights having a heartfelt, nostalgic trip down teen memory lane is just as good a time.

Title: Fifteen
Author: Beverly Cleary
Published: 1956
Pages: 203

Total Books Blogged: 33
Total Pages: 9441

Completed: Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons; also, The Tayinat List

Once upon a time, in 2005, I was on an archaeological excavation in southern Turkey. We flew in and out of an airport about 2 hours' drive away. On the very last night, we all sat up in our outside hang-out space - it was lovingly known as the Languidarium. The flight was at maybe 6 in the morning. But this meant heading for the airport at about 3. We chose not to sleep before we left.

I passed around a piece of paper. I asked everyone to contribute books that they thought I shouldn't live my life without reading, for whatever reason mattered to them. I got a varied and eclectic list. And although Watchmen got mentioned that night (for some reason I remember it distinctly), it is not in fact on the list. But lots of other great books are. I've read 11 of them:

• Life of Pi
• Memoirs of a Geisha
• Eats, Shoots and Leaves
• Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
• My Name is Red (very much NOT my favorite book - took me 8 months to force myself to finish)
• The Bluffer's Guide to Archaeology
• Away by Jane Urquhart
• Baghdad Without a Map
• Pillars of the Earth (one of my all-time favorite books)
• Eye of the Needle
• Murder in Mesopotamia

I haven't read more, mostly because I tend to forget about the list - though I still have the original piece of paper:

So - should I get around to reading any more of these books, I'll tag them with The Tayinat List tag (Tayinat being the site I was working at), so that they're recognized as pieces of contribution by my colleagues that summer to my reading enjoyment (except for My Name is Red - that book was just terrible to me!). 

OK so back to Watchmen (which I always want to call The Watchmen, but it's not). This book is in the Time Magazine Top 100 Best Novels (of all years since 1923, all genres). It is one that has been made into a movie - a movie I did not watch, as I always try to read the book first. 

This was my first graphic novel, and I've never really read comic books or anything either.

So, with that precursor, this was not my favorite book. I truly understand some of the brilliance in the writing, in the story, and in the implications of the subject matter. But I really had to make myself read it - it didn't grip me, and having now read a graphic novel, I'm not sure if it is my favorite medium to read. So I guess this is a classic where I understand why it's a classic, but it's also really not my thing. 

My favorite pieces were Dr. Manhattan's reflections - on himself, on earth, on humanity. I loved his perspective, despite its heartbreaking coldness at times.In chapter IV, he talked about stars - that was my favorite quote, so here you go - upon reflecting on an old photograph of him and Janey: "I am going to look at the stars. They are so far away and their light takes so long to reach us... All we ever see of stars are their old photographs."

Title: Watchmen

Author: Alan Moore. Illustrated and lettered by Dave Gibbons

Published: 2008

Pages: Amazon tells me it's 416

Total books blogged: 32

Total pages: 9238

Completed: The 8:55 to Baghdad by Andrew Eames

Andrew Eames seems a bit arrogant, in the way he wrote this book. It is written in the style of someone whose nose is always a bit up. Jumping over that relatively minor hurdle, I enjoyed about half of this book. Sorry in advance about some of the rambling-ness of this post...!:

It's somewhat similar to The Year of Living Biblically, in that I very much enjoyed parts of it, but very much didn't enjoy other parts. The parts about Agatha, about Turkey, Syria and Iraq, and about the lead-up to the Iraq War (which Eames was right on the brink of, during his travels) were phenomenal, and gave me much food (and many words) for thought. But the long, drawn-out pieces of European and near eastern history, which seemed both out-of-place in the text (they weren't linked directly to the later pieces about the author's travels) and written, again, in a bit of a condescending tone. As though, if only history had listened to Eames, much of this ridiculousness would not have happened. 

But outside of this, there were a few really excellent moments. Talking about realizing your own destiny (p19) made me want to more consciously think through my wants versus my needs, and it made me all the more glad that I'm going back to school in the fall, and doing that for me. 

I loved the discussion on p37 of 'transport' versus 'holiday': "The essential difference was not the speed or the plate of guinea fowl, but the fact that, for us, the process of getting there was at least as important as the destination." This was quite profound for me - it has been a long time since I enjoyed the travel-to portion of a getaway. Made me long for a train journey myself (though not strongly - I've never been able to sleep well on trains). 

Along his journey, Eames met a man named Alp Aslan, in Turkey on the train. Alp was from Konya (a place I have always wanted to go). And here I really loved Eames' description. He wrote Alp as follows: "He had the serenity of someone who'd seen the world and was now happy to have returned home, where he could share that experience with others and to listen to theirs..." - I really loved this. I hope I'm like Alp someday. I need to get my feet to a few more countries first. 

The other favourite moment did not include Eames' words, rather Max Mallowan's (Agatha's second husband, an archaeologist). Max described their lives together as "forty-five years of a loving and merry companionship. Few men know what it is to live in harmony beside an imaginative, creative mind which inspires life with zest." Such a beautiful love story, those two. I look forward to reading Mallowan's memoirs, which I also own! So many more books to read...

Title: The 8:55 to Baghdad - From London to Iraq on the Trail of Agatha Christie

Author: Andrew Eames

Published: 2004

Pages: 390

Total Books Blogged: 31
Total Pages: 8822

Completed: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

What a tour de force, and an appropriate round-number 30th book to add to the blog.

It has been some time since I was unable to put down a book. I must confess that I read a bit beyond my lunch break today in order to wrap up this book, as I couldn't tear myself away.

I find it hard to write about this story. I really want to pour it all out, but I also REALLY want you to read this book - and I can't say much about it if I want you to read it properly. The book is perfectly built. It creates its universe and slowly, tantalizingly grows. It is addictive.

I will write about Ruth instead. Ruth is the narrator's best friend. However, she reminds me tremendously of someone who I used to consider a best friend, and that person's flaws ended up driving me away. They crept under my skin and made me resentful, suspicious and frustrated, and I chose to walk away from it. Therefore, I am shocked that Ishiguro managed to write a character so similar to this person so as to bring up all of these unpleasant memories, and yet I STILL became strongly attached to this book. Normally, if I find a character unappealing, it shades the book as a whole and I find it more difficult to read. Perhaps if Ruth had been the narrator it would have turned me off of the book altogether. But somehow, this book still held me, despite this (to me) unsavoury character.

Breathtaking, thought-provoking, and challenging. Read this book.

Title: Never Let Me Go
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Published: 2005
Pages: 288

Total Books Blogged: 30
Total Pages: 8432

Completed: Louisbourg Portraits by Christopher Moore

As a fan of both history and human stories, I thought I would absolutely love this book. In truth, I enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as I thought I would.

I think it is difficult to write something like what Moore has tried to do. He wanted to write an accurate historical portrayal of true histories of these people, but also tried to write them to be as fun as a fictional tale of adventure. He succeeded in some respects, but a true 'story' doesn't have as many maybes and perhapses as Moore's writing does. I think that's where I lost interest a bit. I recognize that he was, indeed, telling a history rather than a historically-inspired story. I just can't help but feel that I would have become more submerged in the stories if they had used a bit of 'inspired by' instead of 'historically, it went down in one of these ways to the best of our knowledge'.

For the history itself, I was entirely unfamiliar with Louisbourg, and the fact that Ile Royale was important enough to compete with New England on an international stage. This is a piece of Canadian history that I did not know. (I have had several conversations with fellow Canadians about this book, and so I don't think I'm ENTIRELY alone in not knowing, but I still feel a bit doofish). This is one of many reasons why I am excited to be going back to school for history in the fall - the history that I don't yet even know the basics of, in many ways. I randomly selected this book from the bargain book bin at the university bookstore and learned something new. I'm so stoked for what is yet to come from my upcoming history courses!

Title: Louisbourg Portraits - Five Dramatic, True Tales of People Who Lived in an Eighteenth-Century Garrison Town

Author: Christopher Moore

Published: 2000 (originally 1982)

Pages: 270

Total Books Blogged: 29
Total Pages: 8184

Completed: Hungry Planet - What the World Eats by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio

After enjoying What I Eat so much, I checked at the library if Menzel and D'Aluisio had written any other books on food. I'm not sure why, but Hungry Planet was shelved with the kids books, even though it is essentially the same concept - families' food-for-a-week, rather than individuals' food-for-a-day.

It was enlightening in a different way than What I Eat. What I eat had more recipes, Hungry Planet has more country facts, and it really lays a family bare to make them put up everything they eat in a week. The hypocrisy of the American families, touting healthy eating when their foods include corn dogs, Nutri-Grain bars, tons of pop, chips, instant freezer-foods. It made me take a harsh look at my kitchen, and I truly believe I eat at least half as much junk as any of them, and that I am much more selective of my processed foods. But it certainly made me want to look one more time at how much processed food I eat, and what I can cut out.

I think the biggest one is that the kids always eat boxed breakfast cereal or hot cereal for breakfast. We pick the relatively healthy ones (Cheerios, Mini-Wheats, Corn Flakes, and Special K top the list, along with Quaker Oatmeal with plain oats added), but it's still always boxed cereals. After all the recent evidence around egg cholesterol not being so bad, I wonder if I should start making them eggs and toast for breakfast (we get our bread from an awesome local bakery that uses excellent ingredients). Hmmm.

In other news, I have been following through on my desire to expand my culinary repertoire around especially south/southeast Asian foods at home. I made the best dal of my LIFE (At Home with Madhur Jaffrey - check it out), and have gone on Pinterest and pinned a ton of foods to try: Sambar curry, ful, tah-chin, pho, bhorta. So excited for my culinary adventures!

I'm too lazy to post a picture of Hungry Planet - it's after 11pm and this book is due back at the library tomorrow. It was a good read, but if I was going to pick one, What I Eat was more inspiring to me than Hungry Planet. Either way, they are both an excellent photo atlas of how diverse the food of the world is, and I love eating around the planet!

Title: Hungry Planet - What the World Eats
Authors: Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio
Published: I have no idea - the book really doesn't seem to say
Pages: 277

Total Books Blogged: 28
Total Pages: 7874

Completed: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

I first read The Phantom Tollbooth in Grade 5 or so, I think. I didn't like it.

I therefore don't know what possessed me to take it back out from the library in order to re-read it. But I did. It sat there for a bit before I got to it.

But WOW. I'm so glad I re-read it. I think I'd put it in the top ten best books I've ever read. I think I'll likely read it many more times, as I feel there is so much more to get out of it. The way Juster writes is just magic. His imagination to create this world is incredible. I couldn't pick out my favorite part, because each and every sentence makes you think and wonder. Everything he wrote just made me gasp and laugh and reflect - it's brilliant start to finish.

Maurice Sendak (author of Where the Wild Things Are) says in the introduction that "The Phantom Tollbooth is concerned with the awakening of the lazy mind." I love this, as I think it's an excellent way to sum up how I feel after reading it.

Oh. And The Pilgrim's Progress by Paul Bunyan is on my to-read list - I have a beautiful old copy of it to read. Maurice Sendak recommended it to me...

Title: The Phantom Tollbooth
Author: Norton Juster
Published: 1961
Pages: 256

Total Books Blogged: 28
Total Pages: 7,853

Completed: What I Eat - Around the World in 80 Diets by Peter Menzel & Faith D'Aluisio

This is one of those books that has inspired me. I think great books either really make you think, really make you take action, or really make you feel. This one falls into the second category - it really made me take action.

This book surveys, as a photographic art project, a day's food for 80 people - men, women, and children - from all over the world. I believe the only Canadian was a teen from an earth-hugging vegetarian family in Quebec. I was impressed to see her eating paneer!

The American 'days' were horribly depressing. Processed meat and foods. Pop (sorry - soda). Candy. Empty carbs. Artifically-pumped-up beverages of all sorts and varieties. A large slab of bologna. The only redeeming person from the whole country was a Hispanic lady who owned a restaurant - her food looked awesome. But it made me realize I want my home to be more reflective of the diversity of colour, flavour, texture, and taste of the world. Though we already eat very well - almost everything from scratch, lots of fruit and veggies - there is so much to explore in terms of cuisine from various cuisines around the world. All of the food from Mexico, China, Vietnam, Iran, Palestine, India - it all looked so incredibly delicious.

So. Yet again I have fallen victim to the library. I started with India, and have three different cookbooks out. I dragged my whole family to Fruiticana market in order to get the proper spices (the ones I didn't already have, like curry leaves), and various dals. This weekend I made potato curry and coconut curried lentils and cilantro carrots and it was all awesome! I'm so glad my kids love Indian food too.

I want to do some southeast Asian cooking too - stir fries, green veggies, and Pho. Looking at other peoples' diets made me want to actively enrich my own, despite being in a good place compared to many of those with whom I share a continent (the guy whose only daily vegetables were half a can of peas, for example).

Read this book. It'll make you realize how much more is out there to explore!!

Title: What I Eat - Around the World in 80 Diets

Authors: Peter Menzel & Faith D'Aluisio

Published: 2010

Pages:329

Total Books Blogged: 27

Total Pages: 7597

Reading out loud: Bedtime with my kids

As long as I have known my sons, I have read to them before bed. They brush their teeth, they curl up with myself and/or D on our bed, and we read to them.

The past year or so, we have moved on a bit from picture books. G is ten now; J is 7. Both still love a few of our story books, and we read them occasionally. But they now have both the attention span and desire to have longer books read to them. The first of these was Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King, and we have since read several others - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Witches, and Kai: Ninja of Fire (a novel based on the Lego Ninjago series). Currently we are reading How to Steal a Dragon's Sword from the How to Train Your Dragon series.

I originally did not include these in my blog but then I thought - why shouldn't I? Even more than the novels I read by myself, I read each and every word of these out loud, very carefully (and doing all the voices!). They are just as much a part of my repertoire as everything else I read.

So! Here a smidge on each book:

Nicholas St. North: Amazing! What a brilliant young-adult book. The author has done others, and I would love to read them - just haven't made the time yet. This one's inspiration is 'St. Nick', or father Christmas. There is one about the Easter Bunny as well, and several others besides. SUCH a great book. I don't even remember where we got it, but I wish I could let them know how much we loved it!

The Witches and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Roald Dahl is incredible. The boys loved Charlie, and they liked The Witches, though they found the witches a bit scary (as did I! I forgot that some parts were quite graphic...). They got a boxed set of his collected works for Christmas. Also a somber reminder to all of us: His daughter was lost to measles at just 7 years old. Vaccinate!!

Ninjago's Kai: Ninja of Fire: Not the worst thing I've ever read, and thankfully short. The kids enjoyed it...?

Completed: 
Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King by William Joyce and Laura Geringer
The Witches by Roald Dahl
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Lego Ninjago - Kai: Ninja of Fire by Greg Farshtey

Altogether now:
Pages: 228 + 201 + 180 + 74 = 683

Total Books Blogged: 26
Total Pages: 7,268

Completed: Where I Belong - Small Town to Great Big Sea by Alan Doyle

Oooooh I do love me a good autobiography or memoir. Getting to enjoy someone's life with them is just brilliant, and Doyle sure tells a story. His childhood in rural PEI is a perfect story for a good Canadian read.

Alan Doyle today is the lead singer of Great Big Sea, one of my all-time favorite bands. This made me tremendously nervous to read the book - what if I liked him as much as I liked A. J. Jacobs?

I need not have worried. If anything, I'm even more enamored with the band, knowing where some of the songs came from. That they perceive "Ordinary Day" as a song that changed their lives (p. 282). I've found some new music (Berry Picking Time, and the band Wonderful Grand Band, one of their inspirations). Hearing about how important writing a hockey tune was (my kids love 'Helmethead').

Some wonderful takeaways from Doyle's life:

On why to own a painting: "Because it will make [a] home a happier place." (He met the painter Jean Claude Roy when he came to paint Petty Harbour - it made such an impact on him that he bought that very painting years later and it hangs in his home). (p.29-31)

On what work is, for Sean McCann's father: "Nobody works for you and you don't work for nobody. You only work with people." (p.109)

On how to approach each day: Doyle is talking about his parents when this thought came up, and it's my new motto for every bad day I'll have - take it with you, too:

"Spend exactly all of your time making the most of what you have and exactly none of your time whining about what you don't have." (p.14).

I'll try, Alan. Thank you for your story. Write another one, please?

Title: Where I Belong - Small Town to Great Big Sea
Author: Alan Doyle
Published: 2014
Pages: 308

Total Books Blogged: 22
Total Pages: 6585