Time to read

Since I've become unemployed, the time I have for reading has increased dramatically. And I love it. Sometimes I forget how amazing books can be because I also watch a lot of movies. So here are some short reviews of some of my latest adventures. To keep my mind as active as possible, I try to switch it up. I usually read one literary or "heavier" book and then two light fluff books. It takes about equal time.

I have recently gotten interested in essays. I don't know why. Just curiosity, I suppose. How to Be Alone by Jonathan Franzen, is only the second collection of essays that I've read. And I didn't really care for most of them. I admire the research that Franzen put into his topics, things as varied as Alztiemer's and the Post Office, but I think I just didn't care for Franzen as a person. Much of the time, I felt he was lecturing about how the novel is dying, and he's so great because he wrote an "important" piece of literature. Poor him. The thing I'm starting to realize about essays is that you have to like the personality to enjoy the piece. Essays are in many ways like a review, expressing your own opinions about a subject. So, if you don't care for the reviewer, you may not enjoy his/her reviews, even if you do respect the craft which went into the writing. Because Franzen is most definately a good writer, I just don't share his world view.

Dime Store Magic was just a fun book by Kelly Armstrong. It's book three in the Women of the Otherworld series, of which I had read the first two that focused on a female werewolf. This book switches characters and follows a young witch named Paige who has been put in charge of a 13-year-old witch, Savannah, with exceptional powers. Paige has to keep Savannah safe from some people who want to steal her away while also trying to keep her coven from kicking her out for being too modern. And then there's some romance. This is fun, but not a life changing read.

For Christmas, we got my mom the latest in the Boo Series, Boo Humbug, by Rene Gutteridge. This is another just for fun book, but Gutteridge has created such an interesting and entertaining world, that it is impossible to ever get enough. It's very Gilmore Girls meets Seventh Heaven. This time, the town of Skary is putting on a Christmas play. And, of course, everything that can go wrong does. And then everyone finds out a little about themselves. It's awesome.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon is another Pulitzer Prize winning novel. This one follows two cousins, Joe, who immigrated from Prague and Sammy, born in New York City. These two cousins get together to build a comic book world. Interspersed with their daily lives are flashbacks to their youth before they became Kavalier and Clay, and stories of their superheroes, often inspired by or reflecting events in their actual lives. It took me over a hundred pages to really get into this book. But once I did, I fell for it hard. The characters are very real. Their motivations are understandable. Their pain is our pain. Read this now.

And then there was A Girl's Guide to Vampires by Katie Macalister. Sort of a fun read, but what I didn't realize when I got it was the small print on the spine reading "paranormal romance." So it had a bit more of the girly descriptions of muscle-bound men and steamy sex. But the characters were okay and the story sort of interesting. This is kind of like watching America's Next Top Model. Fun, but there's really no point.

A friend loaned me this adorable kid's book, The Tale of Despereaux by Kate Dicamillo. This Newberry Award winner is so sweet and funny and full of adventure. I loved it. The story is about a little mouse who falls in love with a princess and then battles an evil rat. The reading level is ages 9 to 12, but it would probably be okay for younger children. Some of the story is just a little bit dark. But I loved this sweet story.

And finally, after keeping it on my shelf for years, I read A Mother and Two Daughters by Gail Godwin. A Southern writer, Godwin captures the family life of the titular characters after the father dies. The women are all very different, but this touching book shows how family is important and how being independent isn't a bad thing. After the father's death, each character examines her life and future. I found it very real and interesting. Though the epilogue was a bit blah.  I am very interested to check out more of her work.