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I’m Moving!

Well friends, I decided it was time to make the switch to my own domain, and last night I made it happen! Bibliography is now located at http://www.BibliographyBlog.com.  It looks and feels exactly the same, and is still powered by WordPress, though it is now hosted by me.  Because of this, none of my email subscribers will transfer.  If you would not be too terribly inconvenienced, I would really appreciate it if those already following me here would go the the “Library Card” section of http://www.BibliographyBlog.com and re-subscribe. Fear not! I will not be posting on both blogs.  You will only receive ONE email from me when I post.  And I will still be subscribed to all of you fine folks.

Thank you for your support! I look forward to my continued relationship with my followers and fellow-bloggers!

Courtney

Feature and Follow #2

It’s Feature and Follow time again! The weeks go by so fast. Last week snuck up on me so fast I didn’t even have a chance to post. For those that don’t know, Feature and Follow is hosted by the bloggers Alison Can Read and  Parajunkee.  Each week they feature two bloggers and pose a fun question for us to answer. There’s also the blog hop, which I cannot post on my blog due to WordPress limitations.

This week’s featured blogs are The Bookshelf Review and Compelled by Words. Those that wish to participate in Feature and Follow are required to follow both the hosts and the featured blogs.  Not a problem: it’s a great way to find great books and network!

Question of the Week: What would you do over if you were to start your blog again from scratch?

My Answer: Well, I started the blog for the sake of my friends, with no intention of attempting to get a large following. Now I think I would try networking a lot harder.  And also, I would make sure my idiot (ex)boyfriend didn’t mess up my account with Google AdSense.  Because of him I’m never allowed to use it again, and I’m pretty frustrated about it, even though it happened almost two years ago.  Other than that, I really like my blog. It accomplishes what I want it to, which is to provide an archive for my friends to flip through when they want a recommendation.

 

12.17–A Clash of Kings

This novel, in case you don’t know, is the second in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin.  By no means as interesting as the first, much of it feels rather like filler.  It takes a very long while for the events to get moving. For a novel that’s 969 pages long, reading through 400 pages in which mostly nothing happens is pretty difficult.  Still, the events of the latter half of the novel make pushing through the first part worth it, and I very much look forward to starting the next novel.

As ever, the story of the Seven Kingdoms is told from multiple third-person points of view, following a large number of different characters.  One of the most frustrating things about this series is the sheer number of characters (I believe I read somewhere that throughout the series of five books so far there are over 1,000 named characters).  Their names are unusual and some of them are very similar, making it extremely difficult to keep track of everyone.  At times I only followed the story based on some vague concept of a person’s character–this man is bad, this woman is benevolent, this man can’t be trusted, this one can be bought for gold–instead of attempting to memorize all the names. It helps to read the appendix at the back, and keep referring to it as the novel progresses.

I will say this for Martin: with his main players he takes a great deal of care, crafting them into multi-faceted, many-sided characters.  My favorite in this novel is Tyrion Lannister, a witty man whose lack of brawn has turned him into a clever schemer–the man who really controls the country, though from the shadows so that no one knows it. Arya, my favorite in the last book, lost most of her spunk for this one, though she gained it back at the end to reclaim her place in my heart. Sansa, whom I hated in the first novel, certainly earns the reader’s sympathy in this one, as her mad betrothed, Joffrey, abuses her horribly, both emotionally and physically.  Cersei Lannister and her son Joffrey are both evil to the core–Joffrey a spoiled, mad child who has been given a crown, and Cersei the mother who will do anything to protect her son and see him hold on to the Iron Throne.  Each of these characters, and the others, evoke specific emotions within the reader, and once the chapter ends and we don’t know how soon we’ll see them again, there is a little bit of disappointment.  I’ve considered skipping ahead to the next chapter belonging to a character I’m particularly interested in, but I know that by the time the novel gets around to that next chapter, so many things have changed that nothing will make sense.

The plot moves swiftly and the fortunes of characters change in a flash.  In this novel, as in its predecessor and presumably its sequels, nothing is certain–life or death, good or evil, victory or defeat.  Even when it looks as if a battle can have only one outcome, Martin surprises us with some new trickery.  With five kings vying for one throne, and two more self-styled monarchs eyeing the throne from a distance, there is no well-defined line in the sand, no clear hero for which to cheer.  In this, Martin creates realism far beyond what most authors will do.  These people could be walking around in an alternate universe, where fate does not always favor the noble or the good.  Though the world he created is very thorough, complete with topography, geography, history, religion, language, culture, and the previously spoken-of characters, it is this ability of his to not give us the happy ending we want that truly brings the story to life and makes it believable.

Though I did not enjoy this novel nearly as much as the first, I still had difficulty putting it down, especially the nearer I drew to the end.  The simmering pot of the Seven Kingdoms explodes into a boil, and it gets to be a very exciting read.

Cover Design: What Entices You?

I was thinking today about the books that catch my eye and the books that don’t.  Do you ever think about the marketing of the books that you decide to read? And the one you don’t? Obviously the most important thing in a book is its content, but the care that a publisher takes with its book’s cover can be the thing that makes or breaks my decision to buy.  Here are a few examples of covers I love:

Beautiful colors, lots of ornate detail, fantastic theme. Love everything about this cover art.

Stylized in great colors.

Oprah’s Book Club seal is NOT part of the appeal of this cover

This cover captures the whimsy and novelty of the whole book.

Gorgeous cover both visually and texturally: it’s embossed and the dots are gold foil.

All art is done by the author himself. Cornish is a genius.

A few of the things that I hate on book covers are sloppily-done computer rendered images:

Ugh. So ugly.

Random body parts with the face usually cropped out:

…what is she wearing?

this:

I hate everything about this. The colors don’t work together, the random doorway to nowhere, and those hideous boots she’s wearing. Even the font is boring.

or this:

No they didn’t.

What catches your eye about book covers? Art? Quality of said art? A certain color/color scheme? Fonts? Texture?

12.16–The Elegance of the Hedgehog

I was extremely hesitant when starting this book. I had been meaning to read it for a while, as half a dozen friends and acquaintances recommended it. When my book club selected it as July’s book, I finally checked it out from the library and dove in.  At first I had difficulty picking it up. The beginning seems sluggish. The language is so lofty and the words so long that my eyes had trouble getting them to my brain. But once I really got rolling with it, I’d have to say that I absolutely loved it! It could possibly be one of my new favorite books.

The best word I can think of to describe it is intelligent.  The novel is written from the point of view of two very different but extremely intelligent women–one older and one very young. Madame Renée Michele is the concierge of an upscale apartment building in Paris.  She spends her days believing that the exorbitantly wealthy people who populate her building only regard her in one way–as a sloppy, uneducated servant. Mme Michele is happy to keep them in the dark about her true character. In reality, she is a well-read woman who loves Leo Tolstoy, philosophy, and the films of Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu. Paloma Josse is a twelve year old girl who has decided that she will commit suicide on her thirteenth birthday.  The world is entirely too mundane for her taste and is full of dunces who cannot live up to her standards. The reader gets Renée’s perspective from numbered chapters while Paloma’s comes from diary entries labeled “Profound Thoughts” and “The Journal of the Movement of the World.” When a new resident moves into the building, both of their lives and perspectives take major hits and are altered forever. Paloma begins to suspect that Renée is more than she seems and sets about investigating with her new neighbor.

Both of these woman are incredible characters, prone to rather outrageous fits of their odd indulgences.  Renée is a self-depricating woman who lives in constant fear that the secret of her intelligence may be discovered, while Paloma seeks always to find one reason to remain alive–a pursuit which constantly disappoints her. The comedy and absurdity of their positions is persistently cut with the rather serious internal monologues analyzing whatever small point they happen to be thinking of or expostulating.  I confess, sometimes my eyes had difficulty staying focused on the page. One “big word” followed another and at times the reading got thick and difficult. Still, most of the time I found myself nodding my head in agreement, raising my eyebrows with interest, or “hmmmmm”ing with some new insight. Though fictional women, they managed to educated me on a few things, and gave me fresh perspective of things I rarely think about. Also, Renée scrambling to hide her intelligence made me snort with laughter once or twice. She is, to quote a friend, hysterical.

For a long time it seems to be a book about relatively minor events in the lives of thoughtful people. Eventually, the plot picks up and crescendos to its fantastic conclusion.  By the novel’s midway point I was devouring it, never wanting to put it down.  Though it is slow to start, the novel is brilliant and delightful to read. Paloma and Renée are characters that are easy to love.  I feel that this novel has not received the attention that it deserves, though it may be too sluggish for the masses.  It is a book much better read for its philosophy and humor than for its highly eventful plot line. For those that appreciate a somewhat absurd and often morbid humor, as well as somewhat rambling thought processes (neither of which are tedious or unenjoyable in this novel, at least), please do yourself a favor and read this book.

Feature and Follow–My first one!

Never done this Feature and Follow post before but it seems like a great way to meet people and find some great blogs/books.  Hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read (both great blogs, btw), this week’s features are Books Are My Reality and Concise Book Reviews.

Question: Summer Reading. What was your favorite book that you were REQUIRED to read when you were in school?

My Answer: It seems like a lot of people are saying that they hated required reading, but I ended up loving a lot of what I read for school.  My favorite has got to be A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.  It’s the novel that caused me to love English class. It was during the reading of this novel that I began to think analytically about literature, and it set me on the path to my choice of college major and possible career.  That said, I also loved Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet by The Bard himself.

I want to know what everyone else’s favorite books are. I’d also welcome any new followers. Happy Friday and happy reading!

 

12.15–The Red Tent

Anita Diamant has done every single thing right with this novel. It is one of the most stunning pieces of literature I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. In a primarily patriarchal culture, the red tent is a women’s haven where men are not permitted, and the culture within is absolutely beautiful.  The narrator, Dinah, is the only daughter of Jacob (of biblical fame), borne to him by his wife Leah. She is looking back at her life, from her very first memories to the nightfall of her existence, and it is a life full of both joy and sorrow.

Jacob has four wives, and Dinah regards them all as mothers. She is raised in a gaggle of children, always surrounded by playmates and confidantes.  Her best friend and closest sibling is Joseph, though they at some point become sadly estranged. As she and her brothers grow, they all drift slightly apart and fissures appear within the family group. Dinah is also the character in the Bible who is “raped” by the prince of a city, for whom her brothers later take revenge by killing every male resident of the city.  In the novel, however, Diamant portrays this as a love story, with Dinah visiting the city with her mother as an apprentice midwife, meeting the prince, and falling deeply in love with him. They have a whirlwind romance and a clandestine wedding without her parents permission, and they pay a heavy price for it.  Despite the profoundly heartbreaking tragedy of her short marriage, Dinah manages to move on and live a life of productivity, joy, and even enlightenment to a certain degree.

One interesting thing about the novel is that one would expect it to be steeped in Jewish culture and faith, but that is not the case.  Jacob and his sons after him do worship the god of his fathers. The women, however, around whom the novel circles, are of a strange pagan faith–a cult that worships the power of women and of the earth and the moon.  There is very little interference from the men on this topic. I suppose women were not considered important enough at this time to be converted.  This faith is what unites the women, who must come together in the red tent for a week out of every month, conducting rituals and celebrations, performing births together, singing songs and feasting. Each woman is regarded as a goddess in her own right, and the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is a distance and cold deity. Truly, these women exist in a world apart.

The plot is excellent.  Even in moderately uneventful parts Diamant manages to create enough “action” to keep the reader interested. The novel, as I said, is stunning. It is a beautiful piece commemorating the special culture that exists among women.  In a time when women were thought to have very little power, the bond between these women and the knowledge they possess in secret is inspiring. The men in the story are portrayed as dupes, albeit powerful ones. Dinah herself is a character worthy of awe. Even in her youth she is very wise, and though she is a bit impetuous and emotional, she is for the most part gentle in spirit, in word, and in deed.  She is a lovely narrator, never losing the readers interest for a moment. Her inner thoughts are profound and intriguing, and her words and actions are at times quite amusing.  Diamant’s construction of the entire novel is masterful, her grasp of the English language is that of a fine artist. If there is anything wrong with this book, I missed it. I definitely recommend it to female readers, for its beauty and its uniqueness of subject.

12.14–The Lovely Bones

Alice Sebold’s novel The Lovely Bones is exactly what the title may suggest–lovely. A story of a family ravaged by the emotions resulting from the murder of their eldest daughter, it is told by the deceased girl, Susie Salmon.  Susie’s account of her murder and the events immediately preceding it are horrific, it’s true, and have the potential to be off-putting. Yet the novel that follows these morbid events is touching in a way that only the most heartbreakingly truthful accounts of life can be. Sebold writes fiction, but she captures the reality of life in every paragraph.

Susie looks down on her family from “her” heaven. Sebold has created a reality where each person who dies has their own heaven. These heavens occasionally overlap, when the deceased’s interest aligns with another’s. Susie has friends in heaven, and her dog even joins her there when he dies.  But her heaven also allows her to watch the goings-on of Earth, and Susie tells not just her story, but those of the people she was forced to leave behind. What she describes (with a certain detachment) is a sorrowful tale of grief, anger, betrayal, and frustration.  The gaping hole she leaves in the family widens until her parents relationship is in tatters, her elder sister drifts away emotionally, and her young brother is bubbling with anger. She makes somewhat half-hearted attempts (or so it seems to me) to contact her father and alert him to her murderer. Her feeble grasping at the world of the living sometimes manages to break through, and her father is able to receive enough to figure out who her killer is.  Though this revelation and subsequent hunt add an element of suspense to the novel, it is by no means the main focus of the novel.

It is difficult to read at times. Sometimes I wonder why it’s so appealing to read something as sad as this novel. Perhaps it is for the hope of a happy ending despite all. Or perhaps it is because we can be grateful that their sorrows are not ours. Sebold’s story is harrowing and grisly at times, but touching and beautifully written. Susie’s voice contains both the sweet innocence of childhood and the wisdom of one with the ability to see more than humans, and reading her account of events is a pleasure. The book was a bestseller without being fluffy and brainless, and I really admire both the author and the characters she created.  I highly recommend this book to anyone.

12.13–Postcards from the Edge

My reason for reading this novel is an interesting one. One day while strolling the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare, Ireland I spotted a plastic bag in the grass.  Outraged, I stomped over to pick up the litter, but noticed that inside the bag was a book.  Happily, I had discovered a Book Crossing free book.  It travels around the world, being read and then released to be found again by person after person after person. How cool is that?

So far, Texas is the only other place the book has been outside of Ireland. I haven’t released it yet. Not sure where to do it. I’d like it to be somewhere uniquely Austin, but also somewhere it won’t be misconstrued as litter and thrown away. Perhaps my readers would like to suggest something?

As for the book itself, it was mediocre at best. I can see why people wouldn’t have a hard time letting it go.  I know I certainly won’t! A book by Carrie Fisher (of Princess Leia fame), it reads as a fictional autobiography of Fisher’s life.  The protagonist spends a stint in rehab and then lives the rest of her Hollywood life attempting to make her big break and to find love. Sadly, the story falls a bit flat. It is disjointed and difficult to follow–a jumble of narrative styles that follow no pattern and therefore make reading more of a chore than a pleasure.  The plot is dull and the character is not one I was at all interested in.  I wish I had more to say in praise of Fisher’s writing, because it seems that a great many of her ventures have been flops.  But she is not a very talented writer, and the only reason I finished the book was to be able to review it and pass it on for the next person to find. Who knows? They may enjoy it more than I did.

I did appreciate the humor in the novel. Fisher portrays well the egotistical and shallow nature of Hollywood by creating characters that are vain and vapid.  I also enjoyed the fact that, though it’s a story about a recovering drug addict, it wasn’t incredibly and morbidly depressing.  She wrote it so that even the most dire of the addicts’ circumstances were light and humorous.  Fortunately, everyone got help and most “lived happily ever after.”  Oops! I gave away the ending, but I don’t recommend the book to anyone, so I don’t feel bad!