2011 is 1/3 Over! Do You Know Where Your Reading List Is?
So, you guys remember New Year’s? It was colder (believe it or not), you weren’t late filing your taxes, and everyone was making good resolutions.
All of us, as of January 1.
Quite a few people I know on LJ resolved to “read lots” this year-despite the fact that most of you already seem to read plenty :D but I think it was more a matter of “making more time for myself.” Which is cool. *sends ♥ to all of you*
Some of you, in fact, were really organized. You posted reading lists. You gave me inferiority complexes. ;)
So now I’m keeping a pact I made to powdered_opium and asking you all: what have you read this year?
Preliminary Comments:
My list is really YA-oriented. Hey, it’s my job. But I've been on a Gordon Korman kick, so even my leisure reading has been dominated by adolescent angst. (Korman’s no literary genius, but his conversational narration, distinct characters, and hilarious exaggeration make him even better for reading aloud than J.K. Rowling and Terry Pratchett. Combined.)
New Books in 2011:
The Juvie Three (Gordon Korman)
Your Mama Thinks Square Roots Are Vegetables (Bill Amend. Comic books totally count.)
Becoming Naomi León (Pam Muñoz Ryan)
Because I Am Furniture (Thalia Chaltras)
Mr. Monk Is Cleaned Out (Lee Goldberg)
Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu (Lee Goldberg)
The Witches (Roald Dahl)
The Blythes Are Quoted (L.M. Montgomery)
Claudius and Gertrude (John Updike)
Son of the Mob (Gordon Korman)
Son of the Mob 2: Hollywood Hustler (Gordon Korman)
Pop (Gordon Korman)
A History of the American People (Paul Johnson)
Books Re-Read in 2011:
Actually, I'm not going to fill this out, as it's a long list. But it's totally a valid category, if anyone else wants to do this. :)
Delightfulest Surprise:
Because I Am Furniture skirts not-all-that-successfully with melodrama through most of its run (hard to expect much else from a YA novel-in-poems dealing with sexual abuse). But there is a great moment at the end, after MC stands up to her father and he is put away. She looks at the night sky and there’s a really well-done reflection on how no human, no matter how big or powerful or all-consuming he is, is anything against the vastness of the stars. I wish I could quote more exactly. CHALTRAS SAID IT BETTER, okay?
Biggest Disappointment:
The Blythes Are Quoted. Oh, I guess Korman’s Pop might have been worse, but the flaily Montgomery fangirl in me was really psyched for this book. Hey, Benjamin Lefebvre, I don’t think we necessarily need to assume Montgomery’s publishers were censorious, capitalistic prudes for not heralding this manuscript with unmitigated delight. The book sucks.
But even here there were a few scattered treasures. For one thing, even though he had maybe five pages of screen time, I have a new fictional man in my life. Henry Kildare: the casual, the pragmatic, the ultra-romantic. I smell fanfic in the future.
Also, a few of “Anne’s” poems were priceless. Here’s Anne/Montgomery fine, fiery fight song of friendship:
I have a right to you…
In your face I read you, witty, loving, loyal,
Made for discontents divine, satisfactions royal,
[…]
I would not be friends with all… friendship is too fine
To be thus worn threadbare out… but you are mine!
Funniest Thing Read:
Terence from The Juvie Three. There are no words. As Mr. Jobey sums him up: “He’s such a Terence.”
Early on there’s a scene where the three boys, who have been exited from juvie/prison to an alternative halfway house arrangement, show up for their community service and are given jumpsuits. But “jumpsuit” is just a euphemism! Really these are no different than prison uniforms! Gecko, the MC, has all sorts of angst about how he promised himself not seventy-two hours ago that he would never put one of these on again. He locks eyes with Arjay and realizes his new friend is thinking the same thing. Arjay tries to stoically gird himself to put it on: “It’s just a couple yards of cotton, right?” But he’s clearly not convincing the wounds of their raw and shattered souls.
And then-
Terence, who is as sensitive as a block of wood, shoves his first foot through without the slightest hesitation. “Hey, guys, doesn’t this remind you of lockup?” he asks cheerfully.
I’m quoting from memory, but you get the idea. I ♥ Terence Florian. (Even if Florian is a dumbass surname for a Chicago delinquent.)
Saddest Thing Read:
Another Blythe/Montgomery poem, the eerie “Bride Dreams.” Thoughts of mortality haunt a young girl.
Keep me from death, oh my lover! I think it gave me chills because that’s the condition of us all, no? It’s the silent and subconscious plea behind every embrace.
Currently Reading:
Esperanza Rising (Pam Muñoz Ryan)
Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m the only bookworm who got through the American education system without reading this. Four chapters in, and I’m aware that I’ve been missing out.
Mr. Majestyk (Elmore Leonard)
You know, I’m drawn to the tongue-in-cheek, but it’s a nice change to be reading a book for adults that keeps a perfectly sober face straight through.
Now I'm Tagging: Everybody :D No need to use my format, but it's there for you. An extra violent tag on powdered_opium. You already have a list that should be pretty easy to update--no excuses!
P.S. Speaking of the year moving right along…
A little desperate here: If you were a mom, going on fifty, what would you most want as a b-day gift your flighty just-married-and-moved-across-the-country 20-something daughter? Please bear in mind that daughter does not have much of a budget for this. But we can ignore that for now. ANY IDEAS?
All of us, as of January 1.
Quite a few people I know on LJ resolved to “read lots” this year-despite the fact that most of you already seem to read plenty :D but I think it was more a matter of “making more time for myself.” Which is cool. *sends ♥ to all of you*
Some of you, in fact, were really organized. You posted reading lists. You gave me inferiority complexes. ;)
So now I’m keeping a pact I made to powdered_opium and asking you all: what have you read this year?
Preliminary Comments:
My list is really YA-oriented. Hey, it’s my job. But I've been on a Gordon Korman kick, so even my leisure reading has been dominated by adolescent angst. (Korman’s no literary genius, but his conversational narration, distinct characters, and hilarious exaggeration make him even better for reading aloud than J.K. Rowling and Terry Pratchett. Combined.)
New Books in 2011:
The Juvie Three (Gordon Korman)
Your Mama Thinks Square Roots Are Vegetables (Bill Amend. Comic books totally count.)
Becoming Naomi León (Pam Muñoz Ryan)
Because I Am Furniture (Thalia Chaltras)
Mr. Monk Is Cleaned Out (Lee Goldberg)
Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu (Lee Goldberg)
The Witches (Roald Dahl)
The Blythes Are Quoted (L.M. Montgomery)
Claudius and Gertrude (John Updike)
Son of the Mob (Gordon Korman)
Son of the Mob 2: Hollywood Hustler (Gordon Korman)
Pop (Gordon Korman)
A History of the American People (Paul Johnson)
Books Re-Read in 2011:
Actually, I'm not going to fill this out, as it's a long list. But it's totally a valid category, if anyone else wants to do this. :)
Delightfulest Surprise:
Because I Am Furniture skirts not-all-that-successfully with melodrama through most of its run (hard to expect much else from a YA novel-in-poems dealing with sexual abuse). But there is a great moment at the end, after MC stands up to her father and he is put away. She looks at the night sky and there’s a really well-done reflection on how no human, no matter how big or powerful or all-consuming he is, is anything against the vastness of the stars. I wish I could quote more exactly. CHALTRAS SAID IT BETTER, okay?
Biggest Disappointment:
The Blythes Are Quoted. Oh, I guess Korman’s Pop might have been worse, but the flaily Montgomery fangirl in me was really psyched for this book. Hey, Benjamin Lefebvre, I don’t think we necessarily need to assume Montgomery’s publishers were censorious, capitalistic prudes for not heralding this manuscript with unmitigated delight. The book sucks.
But even here there were a few scattered treasures. For one thing, even though he had maybe five pages of screen time, I have a new fictional man in my life. Henry Kildare: the casual, the pragmatic, the ultra-romantic. I smell fanfic in the future.
Also, a few of “Anne’s” poems were priceless. Here’s Anne/Montgomery fine, fiery fight song of friendship:
I have a right to you…
In your face I read you, witty, loving, loyal,
Made for discontents divine, satisfactions royal,
[…]
I would not be friends with all… friendship is too fine
To be thus worn threadbare out… but you are mine!
Funniest Thing Read:
Terence from The Juvie Three. There are no words. As Mr. Jobey sums him up: “He’s such a Terence.”
Early on there’s a scene where the three boys, who have been exited from juvie/prison to an alternative halfway house arrangement, show up for their community service and are given jumpsuits. But “jumpsuit” is just a euphemism! Really these are no different than prison uniforms! Gecko, the MC, has all sorts of angst about how he promised himself not seventy-two hours ago that he would never put one of these on again. He locks eyes with Arjay and realizes his new friend is thinking the same thing. Arjay tries to stoically gird himself to put it on: “It’s just a couple yards of cotton, right?” But he’s clearly not convincing the wounds of their raw and shattered souls.
And then-
Terence, who is as sensitive as a block of wood, shoves his first foot through without the slightest hesitation. “Hey, guys, doesn’t this remind you of lockup?” he asks cheerfully.
I’m quoting from memory, but you get the idea. I ♥ Terence Florian. (Even if Florian is a dumbass surname for a Chicago delinquent.)
Saddest Thing Read:
Another Blythe/Montgomery poem, the eerie “Bride Dreams.” Thoughts of mortality haunt a young girl.
Keep me from death, oh my lover! I think it gave me chills because that’s the condition of us all, no? It’s the silent and subconscious plea behind every embrace.
Currently Reading:
Esperanza Rising (Pam Muñoz Ryan)
Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m the only bookworm who got through the American education system without reading this. Four chapters in, and I’m aware that I’ve been missing out.
Mr. Majestyk (Elmore Leonard)
You know, I’m drawn to the tongue-in-cheek, but it’s a nice change to be reading a book for adults that keeps a perfectly sober face straight through.
Now I'm Tagging: Everybody :D No need to use my format, but it's there for you. An extra violent tag on powdered_opium. You already have a list that should be pretty easy to update--no excuses!
P.S. Speaking of the year moving right along…
A little desperate here: If you were a mom, going on fifty, what would you most want as a b-day gift your flighty just-married-and-moved-across-the-country 20-something daughter? Please bear in mind that daughter does not have much of a budget for this. But we can ignore that for now. ANY IDEAS?