Wanted by Mark Millar, JG Jones, and Paul Mounts

Title: Wanted

Author: Mark Millar, JG Jones, Paul Mounts

Publisher: Image Comics 2008

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 208

Rating:  4/5 stars  Movie: 4/5

Reading Challenges: Graphic Novel; Mount TBR; 52 Books in 52 Weeks -- Week 1; Book Bingo -- 2 from TBR; T4MC -- M Author (15 points)

First review of 2013!!!!

What if everything in your life was out of your hands and those around you propelled your fate? Your girlfriend left you for your best friend; your boss gave your job to someone better. What if then, after all this, someone gave you back total control? What if he revealed you were the next in line to join a secret society of super-villains that controlled the entire planet? Mark Millar and J.G. Jones provide a look at one man who goes from being the world's biggest loser to the deadliest assassin alive.

My initial reaction was "that reminded me of Kick-Ass."  And then I actually looked at the authors and realized that Millar wrote both.  Silly me.  This volume still reminds me of Kick-Ass with the hyper-action violence and larger than life characters.  But at the core, we get a story of lifelike characters.  Even with the costumes or superpowers, at their core these characters are just like us.  I really enjoyed the story of Wesley's transformation.  As an extra note, this volume also reminds me of The Boys, but without the really interesting political angle.

Movie:

I saw the movie two years, obviously before reading the comic.  At the time I thought it was a somewhat interesting story, but I wasn't over the moon for it.

After reading the comic, I have a new found appreciation for the film.  It's definitely different, but keeps the main story of Wesley Gibson intact.  We see his transformation from pathetic loser to top assassin.  The movie ditched the superhero and supervillian angle, but the story and tone stays.  And the movie is shot beautifully.  All of the special effects and stunts pull the watcher into a fantastical world.  Plus James McAvoy is just outstanding...

52 Books Week 1: Journey to Your Imagination

This week's theme was books set in Canada.  Unfortunately I have a limited selection this week as I am not at home.  Instead of the theme, I am just going with the first read of the year.  

The Magician King by Lev Grossman

Title: The Magician King (Magician #2)

Author: Lev Grossman

Publisher: Viking 2012

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 416

Rating:  5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fantasy; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I own it!

Quentin Coldwater should be happy. He escaped a miserable Brooklyn childhood, matriculated at a secret college for magic, and graduated to discover that Fillory—a fictional utopia—was actually real. But even as a Fillorian king, Quentin finds little peace. His old restlessness returns, and he longs for the thrills a heroic quest can bring.

Accompanied by his oldest friend, Julia, Quentin sets off—only to somehow wind up back in the real world and not in Fillory, as they'd hoped. As the pair struggle to find their way back to their lost kingdom, Quentin is forced to rely on Julia's illicitly-learned sorcery as they face a sinister threat in a world very far from the beloved fantasy novels of their youth.

I am completely in awe of this book right now.  I finished it over an hour ago and am still waiting to decompress.  My first thought was "Wow that was harsh"  but in a good way.  This series reminds me a lot of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.  It has some wonderful fantasy elements, but also great discussions on philosophy and religion and life.  And they both take a turn for the dark at some point.  Yet, the dark made the stories more real, more grounded, even as they are set in very fantastical realms.

With the first book, I got a bit annoyed at Quentin and his whole "I am destined for something greater" attitude.  It was a bit too teenage angsty.  By the end of the first book, I was starting to get over it, but I still was a little annoyed.  In this volume, Quentin grew into his own.  He started to truly understand his place in the world (or worlds as the case may be) and I really grew to like him.  Plus we meet up with some old friends (and not so much friends) along the journey.  I loved seeing the characters deal with new and challenging obstacles.  I even started to like Poppy by the end of the book.

My only issue with the book has to do with the format.  The abrupt jumps between the present and Julia's past were a bit jarring.  They definitely took some getting used to.  I had to keep reorienting myself to time and place.  It was messing with my reading brain.  Even though it bugged me a bit, I still loved being able to see what happened to Julia while Quentin was at Brakebills and beyond.  Her story really brought everything together in the end.  An excellent read.

The Magicians:

1. The Magicians
2. The Magician King

Batman: Earth One preview

Title: Batman: Earth One preview

Author: Geoff Johns and Gary Frank

Publisher:  DC Comics 2012

Genre: Graphic Novel; Superheroes

Pages: 27

Rating:  4 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall into Reading; Mount TBR

How I Got It: iBooks free download

Batman is not a hero.He is just a man.

Fallible, vulnerable, and angry.

In a Gotham City where friend and foe are indistinguishable, Bruce Wayne's path toward becoming the Dark Knight is riddled with more obstacles than ever before. Focused on punishing his parents’ true killers, and the corrupt police that allowed them to go free, Bruce Wayne's thirst for vengeance fuels his mad crusade and no one, not even Alfred, can stop him.

In the tradition of the #1 New York Times bestselling Superman: Earth One, writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank re-imagine a new mythology for the Dark Knight, where the familiar is no longer the expected in this long-awaited original graphic novel from DC Comics.

After reading this little preview of the longer Batman: Earth One volume, I might actually read some of the superhero comics.  So far, I've stayed away.  But I really enjoyed the idea of The Dark Knight.  While I love Adam West's slightly zany Batman, the darker side of Batman has held much more pull with me.  Plus this volume is beautifully drawn.  Everything is a bit dark, but very clear and readable.  Enjoyable few moments.

The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins

Title: The Selfish Gene

Author: Richard Dawkins

Publisher: Oxford 2006 (30th Anniversary edition)

Genre: Nonfiction -- Science

Pages: 523

Rating:  4 /5 stars

Reading Challenges: Dewey - 500s; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I own it

Richard Dawkins' brilliant reformulation of the theory of natural selection has the rare distinction of having provoked as much excitement and interest outside the scientific community as within it. His theories have helped change the whole nature of the study of social biology, and have forced thousands of readers to rethink their beliefs about life. In his internationally bestselling, now classic volume, The Selfish Gene, Dawkins explains how the selfish gene can also be a subtle gene. The world of the selfish gene revolves around savage competition, ruthless exploitation, and deceit, and yet, Dawkins argues, acts of apparent altruism do exist in nature. Bees, for example, will commit suicide when they sting to protect the hive, and birds will risk their lives to warn the flock of an approaching hawk. This 30th anniversary edition of Dawkins' fascinating book retains all original material, including the two enlightening chapters added in the second edition. In a new Introduction the author presents his thoughts thirty years after the publication of his first and most famous book, while the inclusion of the two-page original Foreword by brilliant American scientist Robert Trivers shows the enthusiastic reaction of the scientific community at that time. This edition is a celebration of a remarkable exposition of evolutionary thought, a work that has been widely hailed for its stylistic brilliance and deep scientific insights, and that continues to stimulate whole new areas of research today.

This is such a dense book.  Although I must say that I really enjoyed it.  Okay okay, I started to nod off here and there.  Basically those chapters that dealt with DNA and the really long explanations of genetics caused me to nod off a bit trying to read this before bed.  Once I got to the chapters on the applications of genetics on human behavior, I perked right up.  Those chapters sustained my interest through the rest of the book.  I love Dawkin's way of explaining using a ton of analogies.  This really did help me understand the topic.  After reading this one, I am debating about when to read his other books.  I'm intrigued, but I might need a month or two to decompress.

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees

Title: The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott

Author: Kelly O'Connor McNees

Publisher: Berkley Trade 2011

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 384

Rating:  5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Historical Fiction; What's in a Name - Calendar; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I own it!

A richly imagined, remarkably written story of the woman who created Little Women- and how love changed her in ways she never expected. Deftly mixing fact and fiction, Kelly O'Connor McNees returns to the summer of 1855, when vivacious Louisa May Alcott is twenty-two and bursting to free herself from family and societal constraints and do what she loves most. Stuck in small-town New Hampshire, she meets Joseph Singer, and as she opens her heart, Louisa finds herself torn between a love that takes her by surprise and her dream of independence as a writer in Boston. The choice she must make comes with a steep price that she will pay for the rest of her life.

Little Women is one of my favorite childhood books.  I loved how this story allowed the reader to get to know Louisa May Alcott better, even if it is fiction.  McNees wove the historical life events of Alcott with great dramatic passages.  I especially loved the character of Joseph.  I could see exactly how Louisa/Jo could have fallen in love with him despite herself.  I also loved her reunion with him after all those years.  It gave closure to a tragic story.  Reading this book and short biographies of the real Louisa, I appreciate the story of Little Women even more.

This book was also our book club selection for November-December. Just like our last book club selection, all of us had a slightly different view of the book.  I loved the connections to her fictional works.  We had a great discussion on the family dynamic and the philosophies of the time.  We also discussed the obligations of women of the time period.  It was a great night sharing our love of books and some great food.  Plus, we did our gift exchange and picked our January selection.

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

Title: Suite Francaise

Author: Irene Nemirovsky

Publisher: Vintage 2007

Genre: Historical fiction

Pages: 434

Rating:   4 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Historical Fiction; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I own it

Beginning in Paris on the eve of the Nazi occupation in 1940. Suite Française tells the remarkable story of men and women thrown together in circumstances beyond their control. As Parisians flee the city, human folly surfaces in every imaginable way: a wealthy mother searches for sweets in a town without food; a couple is terrified at the thought of losing their jobs, even as their world begins to fall apart. Moving on to a provincial village now occupied by German soldiers, the locals must learn to coexist with the enemy—in their town, their homes, even in their hearts.When Irène Némirovsky began working on Suite Française, she was already a highly successful writer living in Paris. But she was also a Jew, and in 1942 she was arrested and deported to Auschwitz, where she died. For sixty-four years, this novel remained hidden and unknown.

Wow!  A very powerful novel.  I started reading it thinking it was a modern novel writing about the past.  Of course I realized my mistake when I looked up the author on wikipedia.  I thought that the language and sentence structure was a bit strange for a recently written novel.  And it is...  because it was written during WWII and has been translated from the original French.  That explains it!

As to the story, I loved following the various families through the ordeal of the German occupation of France.  We get to see how various people reacted to the events of turmoil.  I can't imagine having to become refugees in your own country.  It seems inconceivable and yet people had to continue with their lives.  There are some villains (besides the Germans) and yet I can understand why they are how they are.  Overall it was a very interesting read.

When starting this book, I realized that I have read multiple fiction books set during WWII this month.  All three  (Bridge of Scarlet Leaves, The White Pearl, and Suite Francaise) were set in different places.  It was interesting to see how different locations affected lives during the war.

The White Pearl by Kate Furnivall

Title: The White Pearl

Author: Kate Furnivall

Publisher: Berkley 2012

Genre: Historical fiction (WWII)

Pages: 433

Rating:  4 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Historical Fiction; Fall into Reading; Mount TBR; Color Coded -- White

How I Got It: I own it!

Malaya, 1941. Connie Thornton plays her role as a dutiful wife and mother without complaint. She is among the fortunate after all-the British rubber plantation owners reaping the benefits of the colonial life. But Connie feels as though she is oppressed, crippled by boredom, sweltering heat, a loveless marriage. . .

Then, in December, the Japanese invade. Connie and her family flee, sailing south on their yacht toward Singapore, where the British are certain to stand firm against the Japanese. En route, in the company of friends, they learn that Singapore is already under siege. Tensions mount, tempers flare, and the yacht's inhabitants are driven by fear.

Increasingly desperate and short of food, they are taken over by a pirate craft and its Malayan crew making their perilous way from island to island. When a fighter plane crashes into the sea, they rescue its Japanese pilot. For Connie, that's when everything changes. In the suffocating confines of the boat with her life upended, Connie discovers a new kind of freedom and a new, dangerous, exhilarating love.

Hmmm... First off, I have to say that I liked The Russian Concubine trilogy much more than this stand alone novel.  I loved the setting in Malaya and the Pacific.  I liked the backdrop of WWII.  I liked many of the side characters.  I just couldn't stand Connie.  Sure she was stuck in a bad marriage.  But did that mean she had to treat everyone else like she was the center of the universe?  I felt no sympathy for her.  And it made me want to throw the book down a few times.  Don't get me wrong, the story's great.  My annoyance at one character made my reading of the book feel like more of a struggle than an enjoyment.

Mini Reviews

I've recently read a few nonfiction books, but just didn't have enough to say about them for full reviews.  So here's my mini reviews:

Title: A History of Egypt: From Earliest Times to the Present

Author: Jason Thompson

Publisher: Anchor Books 2008

Genre: Nonfiction -- History

Pages: 382

Rating:  4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Dewey -- 960s; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: Library Loan

This is the type of history books that I should be reading.  This volume is a much more comprehensive history of a culture, people and country.  I enjoyed the depth and readability.  Good read.  And I learned much about the rise of Islam in the area (definitely a lacking area of my historical knowledge).

Title: Blue: 350 Inspiring Ways to Decorate with Blue

Author: Lisa Cregan

Publisher: Hearst Communications 2011

Genre: Nonfiction -- Home decor

Pages: 272

Rating:  4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Dewey -- 740s; Fall into Reading; Color Coded -- Blue

How I Got It: Library Loan

Such pretty pictures.  I would love to add more blue into our decor, but it seems the boys' room is the only place I can get away with it.

Title: The Green Book

Publisher: Three Rivers Press 2007

Genre: Nonfiction -- Enviroment

Pages: 204

Rating:  4 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Dewey -- 330s; Fall into Reading; Color Coded -- Green

How I Got It: Library Loan

Tips to live a greener lifestyle.  Okay introduction book, but some of the ways to green your lifestyle area bit hard to do without owning a business or at least your own house.  The testimonies from celebrities seemed a bit wonky to me.

Title: Active Liberty

Author: Stephen Breyer

Publisher: Alfred Knopf 2005

Genre: Nonfiction -- Law

Pages: 164

Rating:  4 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Dewey -- 340s; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: Library Loan

A great slim but dense volume on the differences between active and modern liberty and their applications.  I am a huge Constitutional Law geek.  I love reading about interpretations and applications of the various sections of the Constitution.  And Breyer definitely knows his Constitution.  I've never quite looked at it his way, but it was a nice analysis.

Title: Minigami

Author: Gay Merrill Gross

Publisher: Firefly Books 2005

Genre: Nonfiction -- Paper Craft

Pages: 144

Rating: 3 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Dewey -- 730s; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: Library Loan

I loved looking at all the pretty pictures, but origami is harder than I thought it would be.  I tried to do some of the designs and they weren't that clean looking.  I imagine that practice would make cleaner designs.

Click edited by Courtney E. Martin and J. Courtney Sullivan

Title: Click: When We Knew We were Feminists

Edited by: Courtney E. Martin and J. Courtney Sullivan

Publisher: Seal Press 2010

Genre: Nonfiction -- Women's Studies

Pages: 240

Rating:  4 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Dewey -- 300s; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: Library Loan

When did you know you were a feminist? Whether it happened at school, at work, while watching TV, or reading a book, many of us can point to a particular moment when we knew we were feminists. In Click, editors Courtney E. Martin and J. Courtney Sullivan bring us a range of women—including Jessica Valenti, Amy Richards, Shelby Knox, Winter Miller, and Jennifer Baumgardner—who share stories about how that moment took shape for them.Sometimes emotional, sometimes hilarious, this collection gives young women who already identify with the feminist movement the opportunity to be heard—and it welcomes into the fold those new to the still-developing story of feminism.

This book took me back to to my college women's studies day.  I loved reading about how others found out they are a feminist.  This is more of a feel good book for me.  I really enjoyed the the stories that were a bit more sad.  They seemed to really ring true.  This is a great little introduction to feminism.  Definite read.

Sprezzatura by Peter D'Epiro and Mary Desmond Pinkowish

Title: Sprezzatura: 50 Ways Italian Genius Shaped the World

Author: Peter D'Epiro and Mary Desmond Pinkowish

Publisher: Anchor Books 2001

Genre: Nonfiction -- history

Pages: 396

Rating:  4 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Dewey -- 940s; My Years -- 2001; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: Library loan

A witty, erudite celebration of fifty great Italian cultural achievements that have significantly influenced Western civilization from the authors of What Are the Seven Wonders of the World? The word "sprezzatura," or the art of effortless mastery, was coined in 1528 by Baldassare Castiglione in The Book of the Courtier. No one has demonstrated effortless mastery throughout history quite like the Italians. From the Roman calendar and the creator of the modern orchestra (Claudio Monteverdi) to the beginnings of ballet and the creator of modern political science (Niccolò Machiavelli), Sprezzatura highlights fifty great Italian cultural achievements in a series of fifty information-packed essays in chronological order.

A very detailed overview over 50 gifts from Italy.  I was familiar, at least in a general sense, with all 50 entrants.  I especially enjoyed the chapters on satire, the Roman Republic, Dante's Divine Comedy, the legacy of law, and da Vinci.  While I overall enjoyed the volume, I didn't dive completely in because of my prior knowledge.  I guess I am too much of a history buff truly enjoy skimming the topic books.  I need to grab onto deeper tomes.

Words Words Words by David Crystal

Title: Words Words Words

Author: David Crystal

Publisher: Oxford University 2006

Genre: Nonfiction -- Language

Pages: 216

Rating:  5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Dewey -- 400s; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: Library loan

"Lexicography is not just an exercise in linguistic accounting," writes preeminent English language scholar David Crystal in this exceptionally lively and erudite little book. "It is a voyage of lexical exploration and discovery." In Words, Words, Words, Crystal takes readers on a fascinating linguistic adventure, exploring the English language in all its oddity, complexity, and ever-changing beauty. Traveling from word origins and word evolution to wordgangs, wordrisks, wordplay, wordgames and beyond, Crystal shares his immense knowledge of, and equally immense delight in, language. He celebrates new words, old words, words that "snarl" and words that "purr," elegant words and taboo words, plain English words and convoluted gobbledegook, eponyms and antonyms, spoonerisms and malapropisms, and a host of other written and spoken forms and variations.

I grabbed this book for my Dewey challenge simply because the 400s selection at my library is slim.  This was just about the only book not foreign language learning.  But I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.  Crystal obviously has a love of language and wants to make language accessible to others.  I learned some many interesting tidbits about language.  I also enjoyed the review of language construction.  This was such a fun book to read in an afternoon.  Now I want to rush out and learn more about language.  I think I will start with a word-a-day service.

Some interesting tidbits of information:

• The origin of 404 messages comes from the room number of the researchers at CERN
• We all have wordhoards (the collection of words in our heads)
• A new word, debagonization (the cessation of anxiety when our luggage eventually emerges from the black hole of an airport carousel)
• Latin evolved from a prehistoric tongue called Indo-European
• Did you know that kingly is Germanic, royal is French, and regal is Latin?  Now you do
• 98 of the top 100 English words (in terms of frequency) are Anglo-Saxon in origin
• British accent is called Received Pronunciation while the US one General American

The Boys: The Bloody Doors Off

Title: The Boys Vol 12: The Bloody Doors Off

Author: Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, and Russ Braun

Publisher: Dynamite 2012

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 170

Rating:  5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: J owns it

The war is over and the world is saved. The supes have been beaten down so far they'll never get up again. So why would anyone want one hundred and eighteen metric tons of the only substance on earth that can kill them all stone dead? Bad days start coming thick and fast, as the Boys are caught in the last throes of the battle they were recruited to fight so long ago. Hughie, all on his own and out of luck, finds himself walking down one last bloody trail - and the truth he finds waiting for him at the end of it will be nothing short of shattering! Billy Butcher's vengeance comes full circle, in this twelfth and final entry in the story of The Boys.

Wow!  What an ending!  I have to admit that I did not see that coming at all.  Of course there was always something else at play throughout the volumes, but I did not suspect.  It was nice to have an actual conclusion.  No major cliffhangers, not major questions.   Everything doesn't end happily ever after, but I didn't expect it would.  Instead, the ending makes sense for the story and the world.  I've really enjoyed this series.  Sure it's violent, but deep down it's a political thriller, a mystery.  I loved it!

The Boys:

1. The Name of the Game
2. Get Some
3. Good for the Soul
4. We Gotta Go Now
5. Herogasm
6. The Self-Preservation Society
7. The Innocents
8. Highland Laddie
9. The Big Ride
10. Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker
11. Over the Hill with the Sword of a Thousand Men
12. The Bloody Doors Off

Social Q's by Philip Galanes

Title: Social Q's: How to Survive the Quirks, Quandaries, and Quagmires of Today

Author: Philip Galanes

Publisher: Simon and Schuster 2011

Genre: Nonfiction -- Etiquette

Pages: 259

Rating:  2 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Dewey -- 390s; Fall into Reading; A to Z -- Q

How I Got It: Library loan

A cornerstone of The New York Times’s Styles section, Philip Galanes confronts today’s most awkward and pressing questions with laugh-out-loud dish and practical wisdom. Not only about the new ways to thank a friend for throwing you a bridal shower, or how to deal with a noisy neighbor, but also how to navigate a new age crowded with Tweets, twits, OMGs, and WTFs, Social Q’s is a knockout book that will guide you swiftly through the treacherous terrain of modern etiquette—and keep you laughing for days.

I've decided that after reading this book, I am just not a fan of etiquette/advice books or columns.  I found most of his methods silly and most of the questions ridiculous.  Not a fan at all.

Chocolate by Shara Aaron and Monica Bearden

Title: Chocolate: A Healthy Passion

Author: Shara Aaron and Monica Bearden

Publisher: Prometheus Books 2008

Genre: Nonfiction -- Food

Pages: 213

Rating:  4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Mixing It Up -- Food; Fall into Reading; Color Coded -- Brown

How I Got It: Library Loan

The world loves chocolate and chances are, with the majority of the population saying their favorite flavor is chocolate, you do too. This enjoyable book will serve to deepen, not only your love, but also your understanding of chocolate.Some may think that chocolate is simply a treat, something that satisfies a sweet tooth. After reading this truly pleasurable and educational account by two leading nutritionists, you will agree that chocolate is much more than that. You will discover it encompasses a culture, a cuisine, a treatment, and much more!

I went to the library to grab some food related book to finish my challenge.  At first I was thinking food travel memoir or a bio of a great chef, but then I spied this gem on the shelf.  A book about chocolate?  How could I resist?  While it does contain a fair amount of recipes involving chocolate, by favorite sections was all about the history and spread of chocolate.  I knew about the Aztecs and Mayans enjoying an ancient version of hot chocolate, but loved hearing more about its place in their cultures.  Although less enjoyable, I still found the detailed process of making chocolate interesting.  If I was a better and more patient cook, I would totally try these recipes.  As it is, I did enjoy a nice cup of raspberry hot chocolate while reading.

And with this book, I have now completed the Mixing It Up Reading Challenge!  Woohoo!

Not Quite What I was Planning edited by Smith Magazine

Title: Not Quite What I was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure

Edited by: Smith Magazine

Publisher: Smith Magazine 2008

Genre: Nonfiction -- Memoirs

Pages: 243

Rating:  5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Dewey -- 920s; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: Library loan

One Life. Six Words. What's Yours?

When Hemingway famously wrote, "For Sale: baby shoes, never worn," he proved that an entire story can be told using a half dozen words. When the online storytelling magazine SMITH asked readers to submit six-word memoirs, they proved a whole, real life can be told this way too. The results are fascinating, hilarious, shocking, and moving.  From small sagas of bittersweet romance to proud achievements and stinging regrets, these terse true tales relate the diversity of human experience in tasty bite-sized pieces.

Such a slim volume filled with great and not-so-great lives.  I sped through this, but loved every minute of it.  Upon finishing, I went back and reread some of my favorites.  Some of this are great expressions of joy, some are tragedies in few words.  I didn't initially understand the power six words could have, but I am now a convert.  This is an amazing project.  One I will be revisiting in the future.  Here are my top ten choices (in no particular order):

• Fourteen years old, story still untold. -- David Gidwani
• Time heals all wounds?  Not quite. -- Jonathan Miles
• Now I blog and drink wine. -- Peter Bartlett
• I take photographs.  I see life. -- Daniel James
• Hiding in apartment knitting against depression. -- Laurie White
• Oh sweet nectar of life, coffee. -- Daniel Axenty
• I colored out of the lines. -- Jacob Thomas
• Woman with man's name--thanks, parents. -- Curtis Sittenfeld
• Well, I thought it was funny.  -- Stephen Colbert
• Can't read all the time.  Bummer. -- Rina Bander

And after much debate, here's mine:  Still grieving for a lost life.

Check out more at the website Six Word Memoirs.

Arthurian Romances by Chretien de Troyes

Title: Arthurian Romances

Author: Chretien de Troyes

Genre: Classics

Pages: 526

Rating:  4 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Classics - Translated; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I own it

Chrétien de Troyes was a French poet and trouvère who flourished in the late 12th century. His work on Arthurian subjects represents some of the best regarded of medieval literature. His use of structure, particular in Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, has been seen as a step towards the modern novel. Chrétien's five romances together form the most complete expression from a single author of the ideals of French chivalry.

I have read various retellings of the stories of ancient Britain, but I never read the definitive source.  All that changed today.  Reading the introduction, I learned that de Troyes seems to have had ties to the Marie, the Countess of Champagne (daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine) and King Philip.  Of course he had such royal patronage.  It explains his writings' survival to this day.  I finally dug in and completed de Troyes work of five tales of romance and chivalry.

• Erec and Enide -- This story of bravery and romance felt very flat to me.  I just couldn't get behind Erec and Enide's love story.  To me, he didn't sacrifice anything for his love.  Hmmm... on to the next.
• Cliges -- A tale of adultery that ends well.  Not the most romantic story of all time.  I did enjoy the discussions of the adventures by both Cliges and his father, Alexander.
• Lancelot -- Ah Lancelot.  The beloved of Guinevere and best friend of King Arthur.  According to Wikipedia, this is the first story that mentions Camelot and the affair between Guinevere and Lancelot.  Growing up I always thought these two were idiots for sneaking around the betraying Arthur who did nothing but support and love them.  Reading the "original" story, I still have issues with the "love" depicted.  It just doesn't sit well with me.
• Yvain -- After stupidity forgetting his wife, Laudine, Yvain must prove himself and his love to her.  I do like the motif of redemption in this story.  Worth a read.
• Perceval -- This one was left unfinished by de Troyes.  Supposedly he died before finishing the poem.  At any rate, the first story of the quest for the Holy Grail was a great start.  Unfortunately we don't get de Troyes version of an ending, although there are many out there.

Overall, I am really glad that I finally picked up this volume of stories.  It renewed my interest in myths and fairy tales after some disastrous previous reads.  I might even have to read Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur next year.  We'll see...

Bridge of Scarlet Leaves by Kristina McMorris

Title: Bridge of Scarlet Leaves

Author: Kristina McMorris

Publisher: Kensington 2012

Genre: Historical fiction

Pages: 438

Rating:   5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Historical Fiction; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading; What's in a Name - Topographical Map

How I Got It: I own it

Los Angeles. 1941. Violinist Maddie Kern's life seemed destined to unfold with the predictable elegance of a Bach concerto. Then she fell in love with Lane Moritomo. Her brother's best friend, Lane is the handsome, ambitious son of Japanese immigrants. Maddie was prepared for disapproval from their families, but when Pearl Harbor is bombed the day after she and Lane elope, the full force of their decision becomes apparent. In the eyes of a fearful nation, Lane is no longer just an outsider, but an enemy.

When her husband is interned at a war relocation camp, Maddie follows, sacrificing her Juilliard ambitions. Behind barbed wire, tension simmers and the line between patriot and traitor blurs. As Maddie strives for the hard-won acceptance of her new family, Lane risks everything to prove his allegiance to America, at tremendous cost.

This book killed me.  I was in tears by the end.  It's not that hard to see where the book is going, but I was still in tears by the end.  McMorris weaves a tragic story set in the tumultuous world of WWII.  I love how researched this book is.  I can tell that McMorris really delved deep into the various events and groups in WWII.  And that thought was verified in her acknowledgements sections.  A must read for history fans that don't mind a bit of fiction with their history.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick / Blade Runnner

Title: Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep?

Author: Philip K. Dick

Publisher: Del Ray Books 1968

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 190

Rating:  5/5 stars  Movie:  5/5

Reading Challenges: Science Fiction; Book 2 Movie: Mount TBR; Fall into Reading; My Years -- 1982 (for the movie)

How I Got It: Own it

By 2021, the World War had killed millions, driving entire species into extinction and sending mankind off-planet. Those who remained coveted any living creature, and for people who couldn't afford one, companies built incredibly realistic simulacrae: horses, birds, cats, sheep. . . They even built humans.

Emigrées to Mars received androids so sophisticated it was impossible to tell them from true men or women. Fearful of the havoc these artificial humans could wreak, the government banned them from Earth. But when androids didn't want to be identified, they just blended in.

Rick Deckard was an officially sanctioned bounty hunter whose job was to find rogue androids, and to retire them. But cornered, androids tended to fight back, with deadly results.

Book

Another science fiction book that tempted me but with trepidations.  I haven't had the best luck with previous science fiction, but this one exceeded my expectations.  I immediately connected with the character of Rick and his struggles to be a success in this destroyed world.  This book was very character driven.  I loved the complexity involved.  Plus we get an interesting discussion on humanity and ethics.  The two Rachaels were a nice touch.  Definitely a must read for me.

Favorite quote:

“Empathy, he once had decided, must be limited to herbivores or anyhow omnivores who could depart from a meat diet. Because, ultimatley, the emphatic gift blurred the boundaries between hunter and victim, between the successful and the defeated. As in the fusion with Mercer, everyone ascended together or, when the cycle had come to an end, fell together into the trough of the tomb world. Oddly, it resembled a sort of biological insurance, but double-edged. As long as some creature experienced joy, then the condition for all other creatures included a fragment of joy. However, if any living being suffered, then for all the rest the shadow could not be entirely cast off. A herd animal such as man would acquire a higher survival factor through this; an owl or a cobra would be destroyed.” Page 27

Movie

I love the world building in this movie.  Everything is fantastical, but very lived in and run down.  The look just gets me.  And the special effects are still amazing even 30 years after.  While liberties are taken with the story, it makes sense in the world that Dick created.  The actors are all amazing and just perfect for their roles.  I especially love Sean Young's Rachael.  She was my favorite character from the book and she's my favorite character in the movie.  Overall, I just really enjoy this one.  And they got rid of Deckard's wife, which definitely livened up the pacing.

Mythology by Edith Hamilton

Title: Mythology

Author: Edith Hamilton

Publisher: Little, Brown, and Company 1942

Genre: Mythology

Pages: 352

Rating:   4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Telling Tales; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I own it!

Since its original publication by Little, Brown & Company in 1942, this author's Mythology has sold millions of copies throughout the world & established itself as a perennial bestseller in its various available formats: hardcover, trade paperback, & mass market paperback. Mythology succeeds like no other book in bringing to life for the modern readeer the Greek, Roman & Norse myths & legends that are the keystone of Western culture - the stories of gods & heroes that have inspired human creativity from antiquity to the present.

This is definitely a book I've been meaning to read for years.  Years, I tell you!  And finally I got around to it.  The book did not disappoint.  Hamilton's tome is the definitive source for Greek and Roman myths.  Unfortunately, at times the prose becomes a bit convoluted.  Maybe it's just the time period the book was written.  I found myself skipping the commentary passages to get to the stories.  Those I loved!  That said, I wanted an actual commentary on some of the stories; maybe more history on the stories.  At any rate, I did enjoy my time reading through the stories.  After reading, I had the urge to watch a good movie based off of the stories, but unfortunately there aren't many.  Maybe I should just watch a cheesy version...  like Clash of the Titans.

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

Title: The Martian Chronicles

Author: Ray Bradbury

Publisher: William Morrow 1950

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 288

Rating:  4 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Science Fiction; Mount TBR; Fall Into Reading

How I Got It: J owns it

Bradbury's Mars is a place of hope, dreams and metaphor-of crystal pillars and fossil seas-where a fine dust settles on the great, empty cities of a silently destroyed civilization. It is here the invaders have come to despoil and commercialize, to grow and to learn -first a trickle, then a torrent, rushing from a world with no future toward a promise of tomorrow. The Earthman conquers Mars ... and then is conquered by it, lulled by dangerous lies of comfort and familiarity, and enchanted by the lingering glamour of an ancient, mysterious native race.  Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles is a classic work of twentieth-century literature whose extraordinary power and imagination remain undimmed by time's passage. Inconnected, chronological stories, a true grandmaster once again enthralls, delights and challenges us with his vision and his heart-starkly and stunningly exposing in brilliant spacelight our strength, our weakness, our folly, and our poignant humanity on a strange and breathtaking world where humanity does not belong.

For the first 20 pages, I was thoroughly confused. I didn't realize that this was a collection of related short stories.  Once I readjusted my perspective, I found that I really enjoyed these stories.  The reader has to look at Earth and Mars through an alien viewpoint.  We see Mars and its inhabitants as they are.  And then we see how the humans from Earth see Mars.  Such strange little stories.  But if put into a 1950s era mindset, they completely make sense.  Not my favorite science fiction, but a good collection.