word verification

Yeah, I know it drives some of you readers crazy, but the word verification is back on. How many comments full of Chinese characters does one blogger have to put up with?

Review: The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale

genre: adult fiction/chick-lit (sorta)
rating: 4/5

When the pregnant and mom-of-three Becky Jack goes to L.A. for the chance of a lifetime, she is randomly introduced to her movie star crush: Felix Callahan. This happenchance meeting leads to a witty and clever friendship that slowly allows Felix to have a small place in Becky's heart. It's a small space, because her life is so full of her loving husband and her kids and her church and her responsibilities and she really loves the life she chose. Right?

But he keeps being in her thoughts and Becky has a lot to sort through. Her husband Mike plays a vital role, obviously, in Becky's efforts to make such a strange best-friendship work. As the story progresses, life becomes less "Mormon Housewife" and more, well, complicated. First and foremost, Becky cares about her relationships and her religion - and making all of these things mesh together in the perfect way is the crux of this book.

I don't know why this book was an enigma for me - for some reason I just never completely believed it. Don't get me wrong, I couldn't put it down - it had me laugh out loud in a couple different places and I found Becky and Felix as characters highly amusing and complex. I liked the comfortable and familiar writing style and I liked reading a book that took place in a world I know well. And though sometimes her portrayal of said world was a bit too cliche for my taste, it fully deserves its four stars. But, maybe it's because I know the "Mormon Housewife" world so well that I just couldn't stretch my imagination quite as far as I needed to so that I could fully appreciate the love stories. I don't think it's Hale's writing - I think it's me. It's totally worth you trying it for yourself.

Review: Why Darwin Matters:The Case Against Intelligent Design by Michael Shermer

book 3 out of 5 for the Non-Fiction Five Challenge
genre: science/non-fiction
rating: 4/5

I have come to the conclusion that the subtitle should actually be the title of this book. Sometimes I felt like I was in court and Intelligent Design was the defendant - Shermer's purpose was to lay down the facts regarding evolution is such a way as to explain why Intelligent Design is a scientific impossibility. Or, the fact that, in his opinion, Intelligent Design is not scientific at all.

I rarely read books that are so thoroughly scientific. I'm not going to lie: sometimes I had to skim over the most in-depth parts about RNA and mitochondria and the more nitty gritty aspects of evolutionary theory. But there was much that was interesting about studies that have been done and anecdotal stories about evolutionary science - these were very accessibly written. I feel like I now have a sense for what both sides of the Evolution vs. Intelligent Design debate assert and that I'm more able to have an informed discussion about the topic.

I liked how the book was set-up, the chapter headings and sub-headings really guided my reading and often answered questions that came up as I read, especially this: is it possible to reconcile a faith in God as a supreme being/creator and knowledge of evolutionary theory? He goes into this in depth, obviously, as he separates the theory of evolution from theological discourse. I appreciated that he acknowledged that yes, it is totally possible to be reconciled to both - but I also felt, and this bothered me, that he tended to be condescending regarding those who DID believe in Intelligent Design. Actually, the whole tone of the book felt a bit condescending to me - and even though he presents an excellent case and I don't even disagree with his point - I just wish he'd been less patronizing.

This book got me thinking, that's for sure. I can't pretend this is the perfect summer beach read or that everyone will want to pick it up, but it helped me use my brain for a while, got me to sort through how I feel about a multitude of issues and for the most part, it did entertain me. So, take from that what you will.

Book Tour: A Worthy Legacy by Tomi

Last May I reviewed the book A Worthy Legacy and now it's on tour!! This book is a collection of thoughts and ideas that were given to the author by her grandfather on his deathbed. My full review is here, but I wanted to include my final thoughts:

What I am appreciating, now that I am letting his thoughts mull around in my mind, is that he and I, two completely different people who have led absolutely different lives on opposite sides of this planet - we believe the same things about how to live a good life. This elderly gentleman who grew up in a Nigerian village wanted to teach his children the same things that I want to teach mine. His simple words never startled me or surprised me - the writing is not lyrical or jubilant or complex. You merely come away from the book knowing that Tomi's grandfather left this life knowing what was worth caring about - and that if we read closely, we might be tempted to look for that same knowledge ourselves.

Please take a look at some of the other reviews out there! The next stop in the tour is at Lost in Books.

Review: The Tempest by William Shakespeare

rating:4/5

Fuss about it all you want, I agree that he's not easy to understand, but the guy WAS a genius. I've been reading one play per year (about all I can handle :) for 4 years now - and while The Tempest isn't my favorite of the ones I've read, it's still full of the vivid language and intricate ideas that I've come to expect - a real commentary on the human condition.

What makes this one a bit different is that our main character, Prospero the unfairly de-throned former duke of Milan, is a magician. He is stranded on a deserted island with his beautiful daughter Miranda and not only does he have a special book that helps him to do magic, he also has an indentured "spirit" named Ariel (yeah, I thought it was a girl at first, but it's a boy :) who helps him to control the seas and create a tempest to bring his former enemies right to his virtual doorstep.

Of course there is love. Of course there are whisperings of treachery. There are even disappearing banquet tables - and about a thousand references to Greek literature that I have to be fine with not understanding. My enjoyment of Shakespeare comes from my acquired ability to glean as much as I can (making sure I understand the general plot) and then letting the gory details just slide on by. I know I could potentially obsess over every choice of words, but I choose not to. Perhaps I am shallow, but I just appreciate what I can and glory in those phrases that speak to me. Phrases like:

The rarer action is
In virtue than in vengeance.

My library
Was dukedom large enough.

What's past is prologue.

We are such stuff as dreams are made on.

Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.

Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me that, when I waked,
I cried to dream again.

Twangling! What a great word and what a beautiful image! I read along as I watched a dvd of the play this time, and listening to the words being spoke as I read them really helped things make more sense. Sometimes, though, the watching did me a disservice - especially in the case of Ariel, who in my version wore a tiny little less-than-a-loincloth and acted extremely effeminate, which distracted me from the action if I was watching the screen instead of my book :)

**this could be a spoiler, I guess**Prospero is an interesting sort of double character - first with his God-complex and then becoming all forgiving in the second half. I can see, though, that this story is all about journeys - over the sea, over the island, from death to life, from sorrow to joy. Maybe Prospero just had a journey of his own - and I think the fact that all these things end happily (i.e. no one dying or killing anyone in the final scenes) is what makes this a "comedy." I never laughed, mind you, but I liked that there were chances for people to atone and find peace. For whatever reason, this one just did not grab me the same way others have - but it was still worth reading (watching).

review: Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga

book 8 of 10 for the Orbis Terrarum 2009 challenge
book 6 of 12 for the Young Adult Challenge 2009

genre: young adult
rating: 4/5

Tambu, raised on a homestead in the back country of Zimbabwe (then a colony of Britain, called Rhodesia) has very little to engage her young mind. As she grows and her desires for education and knowledge increase, she finds that she is constantly fighting against two factors: the fact that she is female and the fact that she is African.

And while she loves her parents and can find some beauty in her tiring and off-the-land life on the homestead, what she truly wants to go to school. A string of circumstances enable her to travel to a mission and attend the mission school where her uncle is the headmaster. At school, Tambu's horizons expand by leaps and bounds, not only because of new experiences but especially because of her relationship with her cousin, Nyasha, who spent her much of her early childhood in England. Nyasha's world view is much more questioning and cynical and she forces Tambu to ask hard questions about what she wants and why she wants it.

This is a true coming of age story - a young girl learning about herself, discovering not only the grander world around her, but also the more intimate workings of her immediate family. The fact that all this is happening on an Rhodesian farm, within a strictly patriarchal culture that is so unfamiliar to me and yet, so beautifully described - makes it all the better. I found myself as frustrated as she was with the constraints and assumptions she (and other women in the story) had to deal with because she was female. Nervous Conditions is full to the brim with topics to discuss: colonialism, racism, feminism, assimilation, "primitive" culture vs. "progressive" culture, even mental health. All those deep issues tossed around in a story of a girl and her cousin, trying to figure out their place in a society that was set up to keep African women as small as possible.

I really enjoyed reading this one, but I can't call it a page turner, really. I read because Dangarembga has a wonderful way with words and because I loved spending some time in a place so foreign. The plot moves forward, but isn't gripping - it's more like a ride down the river of Tumba's life, occasionally there is a major upset, but mostly we are just gliding along with her as she sorts through the things she sees and hears. Though I didn't fly through it, I enjoyed the ride.

Review: Life as We Knew It. by Susan Beth Pfeffer

book 4 of 4 for the It's The End of the World 2009 Challenge
book 5 of 12 for the YA Challenge 2009
genre: ya/apocalypitc
rating: 5/5

I've read many post-apocalyptic books - books that take place long after some sort of giant disaster that has changed the way the world and everyone on it functions. While I am a huge fan of these books, I am an even bigger fan of apocalyptic books - the ones where we actually watch the characters who are in the thick of that disaster - the ones where the characters have to cope with, first of all, not dying in the initial tragedy, but also coming to grips with the new "real" that exists afterwards.

Life As We Knew It is one of these second kind of books. High schooler Miranda and the rest of the world are excited about the fact that an asteroid is going to hit the moon - what an event! Except, no one counted on the impact knocking the moon out of its orbit, and the resulting changes on the earth make for some pretty apocalyptic times. Crazy tides, wild weather - and survival is the name of the game. Miranda's life in a remote suburb gives them more options than most and the fact that she's got a tight-knit family surrounding her to help out makes a big difference, too.

The story is told through Miranda's diary and the author got her tone and "teenage-ness" just right. Her frustrations and concerns, so limited to her small circle of experience, felt authentic - as did all the disastrous happenings - I just believed it all. To be completely truthful, this book scared the pants off me, its terrifying plausibility made me want to run to the store and buy them out of canned goods and firewood. It's horrifying to imagine what we would really all do in such a situation, what resources we would have to help us to survive. I couldn't put this book down and the only real problem with Life As We Knew It is that once you've started reading it, you can't get it out of your head.