Of Boys and Books
A short Hansony aside
Although spelling was obviously not part of the Hansons' homeschooling curriculum, Making Poor Use of A Gospel Choir 101 was apparently something attention was lavished upon. The Great Divide is okay, I guess, all funky and foot-tapping, but it sounds uncoordinated and choppy to this spectacularly untrained ear. Also, and go ahead and shoot me for this, but the lyrics are pretty lame. "I found hope in this beating chest," indeed.
At least it's for a good cause?
I may not be writing my novel or going to the gym or making time with boys I like these days, but I sure as heck am reading. And this year, for the first time ever, I think I'm going to make my 50 book goal.
1. The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory, 1/14/06 [B-]
I came away from Western Perspectives in high school with some pretty intense love for the women of Henry VIII, so I was psyched to find this book deeply discounted at a local used bookstore. Unfortunately, there was a reason it was deeply discounted: although it's adored by many, I wasn't much impressed. In fact, I'm a little perplexed at how a book can manage to be boring while telling the story of two sisters having torrid affairs with England's egomaniacal king. The book includes various real and/or faked pregnancies, incest, class warfare, religious strife, a royal court that comes off as a high school doppleganger, beheading, and yawning.
2. The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth George Speare, 1/22/06 [B]
A childhood classic that's significantly less good when read by an adult (or a reasonable facsimile thereof). Maybe it was the feathered 80s hairstyle on the cover model that killed it for me?
3.The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Michael Chabon, 2-15-06 [A]
Why didn't I listen to Seth Cohen when he told me to read this book the first time? It's weighty, wonderful, whiz-bangy goodness not to be missed. (And I double-dog dare you not to cast Adrian Brody as Kavalier and Jack Black as Clay.)
4. Enemies of the Heart, Susan Grace, 2-19-06 [D-]
There's nothing sadder than a guilty pleasure botched. I love trashy romance novels; all it takes to make me happy is a Scottish lass being introduced to the wonders of love and life by a rapscallion Viking pirate from Mars. But this book was a waste of brain cells for both me and the author. If she had any to start with.
5. Fever, 1793, Laurie Halse Anderson, 2-22-06 [A]
This YA novel of Philadelphia's 1793 Yellow Fever outbreak was right up my alley: great historical fiction featuring believable, non-"prithee" dialogue, and a significant dose of the end of the world. Powerful, edge-of-your seat reading that brings a foreign era to life.
6. Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, Lynne Truss, 2-26-06 [C+]
Although I agree that the state of the world's punctuation is tragic, I found this author to be significantly less clever than she thought she was. And preaching to the choir is useless in this case, as anyone who'll read this book already knows the difference between its and it's. A dead horse, thoroughly and repeatedly beaten.
6. The Tower Room, Adele Geras, 2-28-06 [B]
A nice, if unremarkable, YA that's part fairy tale and part modern English boarding school novel. Nicely written but ultimately hollow.
7. Gravitation, book 2, Maki Murakami, 3-15-06 [B+]
See what a progressive book geek I am, including a lightweight graphic novel in my list of books read? A hot Nicholas Sparks-type falls in love with a younger, up-and-coming musician in this tale of Japanese boy love. Enjoyable, but I still wish a was a real book =X
8. The Great Mortality, John Kelly, 3-15-06 [B-]
After a while, all the books about the Black Plague ravishing Europe tend to blur together. Go figure. Still, this is a nicely written survey of the era and the illness full of fun facts and three-dimensional historical characters. You could do much worse.
9. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown, 3-15-06 [D-]
A book to make people who haven't read a book since they were being graded on it feel smart. This predictable tale of a bunch of cardboard cutouts dashing around Europe in search of the Holy Grail was actually improved upon by the big, dumb Hollywood movie that it was made into.
10. Perfect, Judith McNaught, 4-5-06 [A]
Now this is a guilty pleasure done right: a Robert Redford-esque director is framed for his wife's murder, escapes from prison, and acquires a hostage in the form of a virginal schoolteacher while on his way to hide out in a luxurious mountain cabin. I've read it fifteen times if I've read it once, and loved it more with every turn of the page.
11. Prep, Curtis Sittenfeld, 4-17-06 [A]
By the end you will want to wring the main character's neck, but along the way I promise you'll recognize something of yourself in her. This YA tale of over-privileged, private high school life is insightful, painfully true-to-life, and cleverly written.
12. In Cold Blood, Truman Capote, 4-29-06 [A]
For a change, a book that really is just as good as everybody says it is. It's true crime that goes down like fiction; I recommend reading it after watching Capote to see some things you might not have seen on your own.
13. Shark Trouble, Peter Benchley, 5-2-06 [B+]
A collection of republished nonfiction writings by the author of Jaws that, while undeniably a ploy for easy money, is fascinating. If you like diving, if you like marine animals, or if you just like reading about how famous writers got that way, you'll like this book.
14. A College of Magics, Caroline Stevermer, 5-11-06 [B-]
How to get Amanda to read a book: "A large step up ... from Harry Potter."--Jane Yolen.
How to get Amanda to like a book: actually be a large step up from Harry Potter, unlike this limp tale of a magical 19th-century university where nobody is allowed to actually study magic.
15. The Professor and the Madman, Simon Winchester, 5-17-06 [B+]
I may be a word lover, but even I don't get the Oxford English Dictionary, that ridiculously comprehensive granddaddy of all reference books. Nonetheless, you can't fault this study of one of the OED's greatest contributors: a resident of an English home for the criminally insane. The story of his life is interesting, if perhaps overblown, but the words and how they were codified were the real stars of this show.
16. Josie, Vivian Schurfranz, 5-21-06 [D]
Part of an American Girls-esque YA series that thrived when I was knee-high to a grasshopper, this was an exciting find at the 5-Colleges Book Sale. I almost died--it's even by my favorite author in the series, a woman whose Triangle fire book I remember 20 years later. However, it sucked. Like a lot. To sum up the characters, the setting, and the plot in one fell swoop: Predictable, shallow, and stupid.
17. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott, 6-13-06 [B+]
I'm not sure how I managed to miss this one growing up, but it was a pleasant find in adulthood. In the grand scheme of things, I'd rather be watching the Winona Ryder/Christian Bale movie than reading the book, but I'm glad I can tick off on the list of things to read before I die.
18. Girl in Hyacinth Blue, Susan Vreeland, 6-20-06 [A-]
You have to love a woman who's made a living writing books about painters--talk about digging out your own niche using nothing but a pickaxe and a dream. Although not quite as wonderful as The Passion of Artemesia, this series of interconnected short stories is a moving biography of a lost Vermeer. You'll cry at the end. Promise.
19. Old Magic, Marianne Curley, 7-1-6 [for me: A+ (for the rest of the world: C-)]
My love for this fanficy book knows no bounds. The cute new boy at school happens to have magical powers, and the pariah of a female lead must help him embrace them to break a terrible, centuries-old curse on his family. Plus, they travel back in time to Medieval England, even though they're in Australia. Does it get better than that?
20. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer, 7-2-06 [A+]
As Buffy the Vampire Slayer long ago proved, Vampires + high school love = entertainment gold. This book's clumsy, endearing narrator turns out to have a special connection with the hottest vamp in town, the delectably Prince Harry-sounding Edward. If you haven't read this book already, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy ASAP.
21. Eva Moves the Furniture, Margot Livesey, 7-4-06 [C]
Every single blurb on this book's cover was written by the author's mother. That's the only possible explanation why anyone would praise this aimless novel about a girl whose invisible friends may or may not be something more than figments of her imagination. A genteel Maeve Binchy ripoff, this book has none of her rough-hewn, sentimental Irish charm.
22. Tell Me How the Wind Sounds, Leslie Guccione, 7-15-06 [B+]
Another book that carbon dates from the late-80s, this surprisingly effective novel is the story a popular teen's summer spent on a remote island that's home to a handsome, disenfranchised boy who happens to be deaf. Slap a new title and cover on this dinosaur, and I bet it would sell today. (Although it turns out that books have gotten a lot higher concept since the good old days, and a simple, sweet story of first love might not be as pleasing to the palate as it used to be. Still I've got to give props to any book that stars an Amanda; it's a moral imperative.)
23. New Moon, Stephenie Meyer, 7-21-06 [A]
Thanks to the ever wonderful missaurora, I was able to read this sequel to Twilight well before its official publication date. Unfortunately, this just means that I have all the longer to wait until the third entry in this excellent series hits the shelves. Although this book is a little less intensely fabulous than Meyer's previous work, she's really got a way with creating wonderful, likable male leads. I like this book's ending better than her last's, and am counting the days until this trilogy is wrapped up. (Only not, because much like Harry Potter, I'll be sad when it's over.)
24. All the Daring of the Soldier: Women in the Civil War Armies, Elizabeth Leonard, 8-4-06 [B]
Women, in officially sanctioned roles and not-so-officially sanctioned roles, were an important part of the civil war. In addition to keeping the homefront running, they were nurses and laundresses and spies and soldiers. This book pieces together the stories of their lives using contemporary books, newspapers, and personal correspondence. Although a bit cold and academic, there is a secret weapon at play here: pictures of many of the women are included. It's a marvel that they passed as men, and seeing their faces really brings home that these were real life heroines, brave or crazy or both.
TBC. Maybe.
Although spelling was obviously not part of the Hansons' homeschooling curriculum, Making Poor Use of A Gospel Choir 101 was apparently something attention was lavished upon. The Great Divide is okay, I guess, all funky and foot-tapping, but it sounds uncoordinated and choppy to this spectacularly untrained ear. Also, and go ahead and shoot me for this, but the lyrics are pretty lame. "I found hope in this beating chest," indeed.
At least it's for a good cause?
I may not be writing my novel or going to the gym or making time with boys I like these days, but I sure as heck am reading. And this year, for the first time ever, I think I'm going to make my 50 book goal.
1. The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory, 1/14/06 [B-]
I came away from Western Perspectives in high school with some pretty intense love for the women of Henry VIII, so I was psyched to find this book deeply discounted at a local used bookstore. Unfortunately, there was a reason it was deeply discounted: although it's adored by many, I wasn't much impressed. In fact, I'm a little perplexed at how a book can manage to be boring while telling the story of two sisters having torrid affairs with England's egomaniacal king. The book includes various real and/or faked pregnancies, incest, class warfare, religious strife, a royal court that comes off as a high school doppleganger, beheading, and yawning.
2. The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth George Speare, 1/22/06 [B]
A childhood classic that's significantly less good when read by an adult (or a reasonable facsimile thereof). Maybe it was the feathered 80s hairstyle on the cover model that killed it for me?
3.The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Michael Chabon, 2-15-06 [A]
Why didn't I listen to Seth Cohen when he told me to read this book the first time? It's weighty, wonderful, whiz-bangy goodness not to be missed. (And I double-dog dare you not to cast Adrian Brody as Kavalier and Jack Black as Clay.)
4. Enemies of the Heart, Susan Grace, 2-19-06 [D-]
There's nothing sadder than a guilty pleasure botched. I love trashy romance novels; all it takes to make me happy is a Scottish lass being introduced to the wonders of love and life by a rapscallion Viking pirate from Mars. But this book was a waste of brain cells for both me and the author. If she had any to start with.
5. Fever, 1793, Laurie Halse Anderson, 2-22-06 [A]
This YA novel of Philadelphia's 1793 Yellow Fever outbreak was right up my alley: great historical fiction featuring believable, non-"prithee" dialogue, and a significant dose of the end of the world. Powerful, edge-of-your seat reading that brings a foreign era to life.
6. Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, Lynne Truss, 2-26-06 [C+]
Although I agree that the state of the world's punctuation is tragic, I found this author to be significantly less clever than she thought she was. And preaching to the choir is useless in this case, as anyone who'll read this book already knows the difference between its and it's. A dead horse, thoroughly and repeatedly beaten.
6. The Tower Room, Adele Geras, 2-28-06 [B]
A nice, if unremarkable, YA that's part fairy tale and part modern English boarding school novel. Nicely written but ultimately hollow.
7. Gravitation, book 2, Maki Murakami, 3-15-06 [B+]
See what a progressive book geek I am, including a lightweight graphic novel in my list of books read? A hot Nicholas Sparks-type falls in love with a younger, up-and-coming musician in this tale of Japanese boy love. Enjoyable, but I still wish a was a real book =X
8. The Great Mortality, John Kelly, 3-15-06 [B-]
After a while, all the books about the Black Plague ravishing Europe tend to blur together. Go figure. Still, this is a nicely written survey of the era and the illness full of fun facts and three-dimensional historical characters. You could do much worse.
9. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown, 3-15-06 [D-]
A book to make people who haven't read a book since they were being graded on it feel smart. This predictable tale of a bunch of cardboard cutouts dashing around Europe in search of the Holy Grail was actually improved upon by the big, dumb Hollywood movie that it was made into.
10. Perfect, Judith McNaught, 4-5-06 [A]
Now this is a guilty pleasure done right: a Robert Redford-esque director is framed for his wife's murder, escapes from prison, and acquires a hostage in the form of a virginal schoolteacher while on his way to hide out in a luxurious mountain cabin. I've read it fifteen times if I've read it once, and loved it more with every turn of the page.
11. Prep, Curtis Sittenfeld, 4-17-06 [A]
By the end you will want to wring the main character's neck, but along the way I promise you'll recognize something of yourself in her. This YA tale of over-privileged, private high school life is insightful, painfully true-to-life, and cleverly written.
12. In Cold Blood, Truman Capote, 4-29-06 [A]
For a change, a book that really is just as good as everybody says it is. It's true crime that goes down like fiction; I recommend reading it after watching Capote to see some things you might not have seen on your own.
13. Shark Trouble, Peter Benchley, 5-2-06 [B+]
A collection of republished nonfiction writings by the author of Jaws that, while undeniably a ploy for easy money, is fascinating. If you like diving, if you like marine animals, or if you just like reading about how famous writers got that way, you'll like this book.
14. A College of Magics, Caroline Stevermer, 5-11-06 [B-]
How to get Amanda to read a book: "A large step up ... from Harry Potter."--Jane Yolen.
How to get Amanda to like a book: actually be a large step up from Harry Potter, unlike this limp tale of a magical 19th-century university where nobody is allowed to actually study magic.
15. The Professor and the Madman, Simon Winchester, 5-17-06 [B+]
I may be a word lover, but even I don't get the Oxford English Dictionary, that ridiculously comprehensive granddaddy of all reference books. Nonetheless, you can't fault this study of one of the OED's greatest contributors: a resident of an English home for the criminally insane. The story of his life is interesting, if perhaps overblown, but the words and how they were codified were the real stars of this show.
16. Josie, Vivian Schurfranz, 5-21-06 [D]
Part of an American Girls-esque YA series that thrived when I was knee-high to a grasshopper, this was an exciting find at the 5-Colleges Book Sale. I almost died--it's even by my favorite author in the series, a woman whose Triangle fire book I remember 20 years later. However, it sucked. Like a lot. To sum up the characters, the setting, and the plot in one fell swoop: Predictable, shallow, and stupid.
17. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott, 6-13-06 [B+]
I'm not sure how I managed to miss this one growing up, but it was a pleasant find in adulthood. In the grand scheme of things, I'd rather be watching the Winona Ryder/Christian Bale movie than reading the book, but I'm glad I can tick off on the list of things to read before I die.
18. Girl in Hyacinth Blue, Susan Vreeland, 6-20-06 [A-]
You have to love a woman who's made a living writing books about painters--talk about digging out your own niche using nothing but a pickaxe and a dream. Although not quite as wonderful as The Passion of Artemesia, this series of interconnected short stories is a moving biography of a lost Vermeer. You'll cry at the end. Promise.
19. Old Magic, Marianne Curley, 7-1-6 [for me: A+ (for the rest of the world: C-)]
My love for this fanficy book knows no bounds. The cute new boy at school happens to have magical powers, and the pariah of a female lead must help him embrace them to break a terrible, centuries-old curse on his family. Plus, they travel back in time to Medieval England, even though they're in Australia. Does it get better than that?
20. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer, 7-2-06 [A+]
As Buffy the Vampire Slayer long ago proved, Vampires + high school love = entertainment gold. This book's clumsy, endearing narrator turns out to have a special connection with the hottest vamp in town, the delectably Prince Harry-sounding Edward. If you haven't read this book already, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy ASAP.
21. Eva Moves the Furniture, Margot Livesey, 7-4-06 [C]
Every single blurb on this book's cover was written by the author's mother. That's the only possible explanation why anyone would praise this aimless novel about a girl whose invisible friends may or may not be something more than figments of her imagination. A genteel Maeve Binchy ripoff, this book has none of her rough-hewn, sentimental Irish charm.
22. Tell Me How the Wind Sounds, Leslie Guccione, 7-15-06 [B+]
Another book that carbon dates from the late-80s, this surprisingly effective novel is the story a popular teen's summer spent on a remote island that's home to a handsome, disenfranchised boy who happens to be deaf. Slap a new title and cover on this dinosaur, and I bet it would sell today. (Although it turns out that books have gotten a lot higher concept since the good old days, and a simple, sweet story of first love might not be as pleasing to the palate as it used to be. Still I've got to give props to any book that stars an Amanda; it's a moral imperative.)
23. New Moon, Stephenie Meyer, 7-21-06 [A]
Thanks to the ever wonderful missaurora, I was able to read this sequel to Twilight well before its official publication date. Unfortunately, this just means that I have all the longer to wait until the third entry in this excellent series hits the shelves. Although this book is a little less intensely fabulous than Meyer's previous work, she's really got a way with creating wonderful, likable male leads. I like this book's ending better than her last's, and am counting the days until this trilogy is wrapped up. (Only not, because much like Harry Potter, I'll be sad when it's over.)
24. All the Daring of the Soldier: Women in the Civil War Armies, Elizabeth Leonard, 8-4-06 [B]
Women, in officially sanctioned roles and not-so-officially sanctioned roles, were an important part of the civil war. In addition to keeping the homefront running, they were nurses and laundresses and spies and soldiers. This book pieces together the stories of their lives using contemporary books, newspapers, and personal correspondence. Although a bit cold and academic, there is a secret weapon at play here: pictures of many of the women are included. It's a marvel that they passed as men, and seeing their faces really brings home that these were real life heroines, brave or crazy or both.
TBC. Maybe.