Have You Seen My Cat? – Saturday Story Spotlight

May 142011

Welcome to Saturday Story Spotlight, my feature where I discuss books my husband and I are reading with our son, Daniel. These are books that he, we, or all of us particularly enjoy.

Have You Seen My Cat? by Eric Carle
Published by Little Simon, an imprint of Simon & Schuster

When a young boy’s cat goes missing, he will stop at nothing to find her. He travels the world in order to to find his poor, lost, feline, asking person after person whether or not they have seen his cat and being directed to numerous other sorts of cats, mostly but not only big cats, instead.

Talk about predictive text.

Nearly every page of Have You Seen My Cat is composed of two pieces of text. The boy asking “have you seen my cat?” and responding to the proffered cats with the response, “that’s not my cat.” Perhaps this isn’t the very most exciting thing for mommy and daddy to read, but fabulous for toddlers. Daniel loves it when I read him the book, sure, we can talk about the attributes of the different cats, but just as much he loves to read the book on his own. He flips from page to page saying, “no my cat! No my cat!”

Best of all, this is a book that can grow with Daniel for awhile. Right now we’re talking about the sizes and colors of the cats, occasionally naming them for his benefit, but we can continue to talk about the different kinds of cats out there. Until then, though, I’ll cherish the calls of “no my cat!”

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Highly recommended

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: Personal copy
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

March by Geraldine Brooks – Book Review

May 122011

March by Geraldine Brooks
Published by Penguin

When I reread Little Women this year, one thing that stood out to me more than anything else was just how completely absent Mr. March was from the story. I actually found him more present during the section when he is away at war, because his absence and more of an effect on the lives of his daughters than did his presence. Who is this man who meant so much to his daughters when he was gone, but seemed to mean so little when he came back? Even Sallie Moffat has better character development than Mr. March! Where Louisa May Alcott leaves a hole, however, Geraldine Brooks steps in to fill it. March details Mr. March’s sojourn to the South as a young man, and his return as a chaplain with the Union Army during the Civil War.

The Mr. March of Brooks’s imaginings is a deeply flawed man. He lusts after other women, even after marrying Marmee, and is about the least comforting and inspiring chaplain in the history of chaplains. He’s so bad, in fact, that he is basically fired from this job and shunted to a different army post where he won’t annoy an entire company of soldiers. But not only is Mr. March flawed, Marmee is flawed as well! She’s very conflicted about her husband gallivanting off to war, and puts on a brave face for her daughters.

I know that some readers are very bothered by these no longer idealized characters of Mr. March and Marmee, but as a parent – and a human being – I found them incredibly reassuring. Who can live up to the example of Marmee in Little Women, really? She is ever good, right-thinking and right-feeling. Someone who does not worry about material goods but is quite content to make do. Yet, as Geraldine Brooks writes her, Marmee is human. She can be furious with her husband, frustrated at their situation, but continue to put on a show for her daughters so that they do not feel the depths of their poverty, so they do not worry overmuch about their father. This, people, is parenting. How much more a realistic role model she is now to everyone who reads her story.

Mr. March is perhaps not actually made to be more sympathetic and realistic in March, but he does harken back to Louisa May Alcott’s ACTUAL crazypants father, Bronson Alcott far more than the canonical Mr. March does, which makes him very interesting at least, and a good stepping stone for curious readers to learn just what Louisa and her family lived with.

Although some parts of March were so Bronson that I didn’t feel they quite fit into Little Women, I still really enjoyed where Brooks took the story. Recommended.

I read this book for the episode of my What’s Old is New podcast about Little Women.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: Personal copy.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

A Rose by Any Other Name…

May 112011

From Marlis1 on flickr

(Hmm, maybe I shouldn’t have been so hard on How Shakespeare Changed Everything given today’s title.)

One of the interesting things about book blogging is discovering all the idiosyncratic things I do in my reading that I had never noticed before. Almost exactly a year ago, I had a discussion here about how much attention I and other readers pay to physical descriptions of characters. That discussion was based on another review I saw of a book I really enjoyed, Between Friends by Kristy Kiernan and how physical description – or lack thereof – influenced our feelings about the book as readers. Kristy also responded with an author’s perspective.

Lately I’ve been thinking about another of my odd reading habits, which relates to the names of characters. It seems that I primarily have two settings when it comes to names: I ignore them, or they bother me. Honestly, most of the time I have no idea what the names of any given character are when I finish the book, often this is even the case when I am in the middle of the book. Realizing that I tend not to pay attention to the name OR physical characteristics makes me wonder exactly how I do identify characters, but I suppose this explain why I have trouble with books that have a large number of generally indistinct minor characters, if I don’t understand their actions and motivations, I just can’t keep them straight.

For me the name is not a word with meaning in and of itself, but it acts as short hand for everything that makes the character who they are. Which I assume is the case for many people, except maybe most of you actually pay attention to the name itself as well?

Which brings me to my second weirdness with names. Generally, the only times that I do pay attention to the name as a word is when it seems to me to jar with my experience of the character. There was one case in which a character with a name I didn’t think fit nearly ruined the book for me, because every single time she showed up I was drawn so far out of the story. More recently, I was occasionally distracted by two out of three women in Mothers & Daughters by Rae Meadows having flower names, although that book I still very much enjoyed. And, in fact, in that case the name issue caused me to continue to think about the book long after I had finished it, and I have now concocted a reason for the way the names flowed from one generation to the next which I think is consistent with the motivations of the characters. So, I suppose in that case the names eventually actually added to the story for me.

I’m putting all of this out there hoping that I’m not completely alone. Do you pay attention to the names of characters? Do character names ever change how you feel about a book? Am I insane?

I’d also love to hear from some authors how they name their characters. Just names you like? Names that mean something specific to the character? Another way?

How Shakespeare Changed Everything by Stephen Marche – Book Review

May 102011

How Shakespeare Changed Everything by Stephen Marche
Published by Harper Books, an imprint of Harper Collins

The game is up and I’m in a pickle. Perhaps I’m just being cold-blooded, but there will be no reprieve. Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!

I imagine you would be hard pressed to find anyone who denies the influence of Shakespeare on the modern world. Or, in the case of those anti-Stratfordians, the work that is generally attributed to Shakespeare, regardless of who actually wrote it.To begin with, he coined some 1700 words, many of which are still used today. Stephen Marche’s thesis, though, is somewhat more than a nebulous claim of general influence. He asserts that Shakespeare actually changed, well, everything. Everything from sex to racial relations to teenagers. Marche even sees Obama’s victory – and the continuing opposition to him – as being heavily influenced by Shakespearean tropes:

The fact that 18 percent of Americans still believe that Obama is Muslim, the continuing power of the birther movement despite the clear-cut evidence that he was born in America, testify to Othello‘s power as a prepared narrative. For many Americans, Obama remains a noble Moor in the mold that Shakespeare cast. – p. 21

Except I’m pretty sure that isn’t the case. I would say pure and simple racism, with a bit of overwhelming political ideology, and a heavy helping of propaganda. I really don’t buy the whole ‘inspired by Shakespeare’ thing in this case, and on page 21 of 200, that isn’t a particularly good sign. Generally Marche didn’t seem to be quite as out in left field as that, but he did have a tendency to (vastly) overstate his case. For example:

Shakespeare has improved your sex life. If you’ve had sex without shame, sex for pleasure, for fun, for any other reason than procreation within marriage – Shakespeare, more than any other single figure, is responsible for the climate of permissiveness that made it possible. -p. 39-40

Because, you know, nobody ever had sex for pleasure before Shakespeare. I’m surprised the human race even made it to the 17th century.

Not to say that How Shakespeare Changed Everything was completely without value. Certainly there were many interesting facts about Shakespeare, his work and how aspects of our modern world match up. Certainly there are have been many homages to Shakespeare in the 400 odd years since he was writing, and many of these homages have shaped our everyday lives. To grant him complete agency over sex or Lincoln’s assassination, simply because his words and creations have been co-opted by others, seems a bit unwarranted.

Interesting if you are looking for evidence of how Shakespeare continues to be important in the world (and that is right up my alley), but don’t pick it up if hyperbole annoys you.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: Publisher.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

June BOOK CLUB Giveaway – The Reservoir

May 092011

5256159881 7ba9c432e6 m picture It is that time again! We are gearing up for this month’s discussion of The Convert by Deborah Baker (Tuesday, May 17 on Nicole’s blog), but it is also time to give away next month’s BOOK CLUB selection. In June we will be reading another offering from Other Press, The Reservoir by John M. Thompson.

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We will be discussing The Reservoir here on Tuesday, June 28th.

From the publisher:

On an early spring morning in Richmond, Virginia, in the year 1885, a young pregnant woman is found floating in the city reservoir. It appears that she has committed suicide, but there are curious clues at the scene that suggest foul play. The case attracts local attention, and an eccentric group of men collaborate to solve the crime. Detective Jack Wren lurks in the shadows, weaseling his way into the investigation and intimidating witnesses. Policeman Daniel Cincinnatus Richardson, on the brink of retirement, catches the case and relentlessly pursues it to its sorrowful conclusion. As the identity of the girl, Lillie, is revealed, her dark family history comes to light, and the investigation focuses on her tumultuous affair with Tommie Cluverius.

Tommie, an ambitious young lawyer, is the pride and joy of his family and the polar opposite of his brother Willie, a quiet, humble farmer. Though both men loved Lillie, it’s Tommie’s reckless affair that thrusts his family into the spotlight. With Lillie dead, Willie must decide how far to trust Tommie, and whether he ever understood him at all. Told through accumulating revelations, Tommie’s story finally ends in a riveting courtroom climax.

Based on a true story, The Reservoir centers on a guilty and passionate love triangle composed of two very different brothers and one young, naive girl hiding an unspeakable secret. A novel of lust, betrayal, justice, and revenge, The Reservoir ultimately probes the question of whether we can really know the hearts and minds of others, even of those closest to us.

If you would like to be considered as a participant for June, please fill out the form below by the end of the day Wednesday, May 18. Your mailing address will be discarded if you aren’t selected to participate and used to mail you the book if you are. I do not share or retain any personal information. Only those selected will be contacted by email.

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The Sunday Salon – 5.8.11

May 082011

Well this has been a busy week, Booklicity stuff, day job stuff, getting hubby ready for a trip (and not having him around for a few days), prep work for some upcoming episodes of What’s Old is New, and a blogger dinner/book signing. All of this has equaled not getting much read. I’m hoping to spend at least part of Mothers Day in my room by myself reading, but we’ll see. So far Daniel thinks Mother’s Day means ‘have to be with mommy all the time,’ which means I’m up earlier than I was planning to be today.

On Wednesday I met Julie from Girls Just Reading in person for the first time, she is awesome, and I’m sort of disappointed we waited this long to hang out, we will have to do it again SOON. We met for dinner after work on Wednesday and then headed over to The Book Stall in Winnetka, IL to see Rae Meadows read from her latest book, Mothers and Daughters (my review | Julie’s review). Luckily Julie took some pictures and sent them to me, because Daniel broke my phone yesterday, and I hadn’t gotten the pictures off yet:

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So yeah, all of that wasn’t very conducive to much reading. In fact, the last time I finished anything but an audiobook was LAST Sunday. But here it is, what I finished this past week:

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And what I reviewed (covers link to reviews):

Murder Under Cover by Kate Carlisle – Book Review

May 052011

Murder Under Cover by Kate Carlisle
Published by Obsidian, an imprint of Penguin

Book 4 in the Bibliophile Mystery series

Bookbinding seems like it should be a quiet job, but Brooklyn Wainwright’s recent months have been exciting, to say the least. After being the center of multiple murder investigations and targeted by a murderer herself, Brooklyn is looking forward to settling in with her boyfriend who has just moved to town and is living with her at least temporarily. Plus, her best friend Robin is home from a trip to India, and Brooklyn can’t wait to catch up with her, although Robin gets slightly overshadowed, when she brings a gorgeous antique copy of the Kama Sutra for Brooklyn to repair. It isn’t long, though, until Robin again becomes the center of Brooklyn’s attention. On her return from India, Robin meets a handsome Ukranian man named Alex, invites him home, and wakes up in the middle of the night with her place ransacked him Alex dead in the bed besides her, professionally killed. Things don’t stop there, though, and soon is appears that Robin might be in real danger

Hooray! A new (to me) cozy series! Not that I’m caught up on the Maternal Instincts or White House Chef mysteries, but these days I’m always on the lookout for a good new series, and this series is definitely engaging. Brooklyn strikes a good balance between clearly not being a professional investigator in any way, and gaining increasing confidence in her ability to deal with situations like this. I really like that at least by her fourth disaster, she is not completely helpless and bumbling. Despite the fact that her boyfriend is a former member of British intelligence and the head of his own security firm, she does not entirely rely upon him, but gives the impression she’d be able to figure things out herself even without him – not that he isn’t an asset to her in times like this.

I know many readers don’t like to start partway through a series, and I often don’t either, but Carlisle did a fabulous job in Murder Under Cover catching the reader up on Brooklyn’s life and previous experiences without belaboring the point. Now I’m looking forward to going back and reading about Brooklyn’s earlier exploits. Recommended.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound.*

Source: Publisher.

* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott – now in paperback & giveaway!

May 042011

Lostsummer picture If you’ve been reading my blog, you probably know that I loved The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees. In fact, I loved it so much that it was my pick of the month last April. Since she’s local, Kelly also wrote me a guest post about Haunted Chicago History during my Chicago Author Month last October.

Since Kelly is now my own personal Louisa May Alcott expert, Nicole and I also had her on to talk with us about Louisa and Little Women for our most recent episode of What’s Old is New.

I know not everyone is able to get to books in hardcover, but now The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott is in paperback!

Powells | Indiebound*

Oh, and I have two copies to give away to people with US mailing addresses, courtesy of Berkeley Trade paperback.

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*These are affiliate links

How to Be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway – Mini Review

May 032011

How to Be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway
Published by Putnam Adult, an imprint of Penguin

So I adored this book, but I borrowed it from the library in January and never wrote my review, and since then I read another book, Picking Bones from Ash by Marie Mockett, that also involves multiple generations of Japanese/Japanese-American women, including a daughter returning to Japan. Long story short, I no longer have enough to say about this book to give it an actual review. However, I do want to share it with you, because I felt that if I do not, I will be doing you a disservice. So let me just say I really enjoyed Dilloway’s writing and storytelling, and I thought she handled the voices of the different women very well.

Now, let me just leave you with the publisher’s description:

How to Be an American Housewife is a novel about mothers and daughters, and the pull of tradition. It tells the story of Shoko, a Japanese woman who married an American GI, and her grown daughter, Sue, a divorced mother whose life as an American housewife hasn’t been what she’d expected. When illness prevents Shoko from traveling to Japan, she asks Sue to go in her place. The trip reveals family secrets that change their lives in dramatic and unforeseen ways. Offering an entertaining glimpse into American and Japanese family lives and their potent aspirations, this is a warm and engaging novel full of unexpected insight.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: library.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

Married with Zombies by Jesse Petersen – Book Review

May 022011

Married with Zombies by Jesse Petersen
Published by Orbit, an imprint of Hachette
Series: Living with the Dead, book 1

Sarah is about ready to kill her husband David. There is basically nothing he does anymore that doesn’t completely annoy her and, it seems, the reverse is true for David of Sarah. They are in couples’ counseling, but it doesn’t really seem to be taking and, in all honesty, they are about one bad cd away from divorce. Until their counseling appointment on August 10th, that is. The first thing that seems off is the traffic, or lack thereof. It is 4:30 in the afternoon in Seattle, after all. Even that, though, it not as strange as walking into your marriage counselor’s office and seeing her eating the couple with the appointment before yours.

It isn’t until they’ve had to kill their therapist and a few other people that Sarah and David start to realize what is going on. As Seattle quickly becomes overrun, they decide it is time to strike out for a place that is less infested with the undead – assuming they can make it out alive.

Funniest. Zombie book. Ever.

Petersen, through her character Sarah, has a fantastic acerbic wit, that made want to just keep turning the pages. Really, what fun is the end of the world if you can’t be sarcastic about it? Well, you know, other than the other obvious benefits:

I should have known that having “end of the world” sex wouldn’t solve our problems. Though, it was pretty great and I highly recommend it. It’s one of the big benefits of an apocalypse that no one tells you about. It just makes everything…better, because you know it might be the last time every time. -p. 64

Perhaps the best part of Married with Zombies, is that Petersen was completely went with the fact that her characters needed major help in the relationship department. Each chapter would begin with a piece of advice straight out of a typical relationship self-help book. Well, straight out with a bit of a zombie apocalypse spin:

Find creative ways to have fun together. Looting is really underrated. -p. 142

This was an incredibly fun and well-done book. If you like to laugh out loud at your zombie apocalypses, this is definitely for you. I’m already planning to read the sequel, and I can’t wait for the third book in the series to come out. Recommended.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound.

Source: personal copy.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

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Devourer of Books

Have You Seen My Cat? – Saturday Story Spotlight

March by Geraldine Brooks – Book Review

A Rose by Any Other Name…

How Shakespeare Changed Everything by Stephen Marche – Book Review

June BOOK CLUB Giveaway – The Reservoir

The Sunday Salon – 5.8.11

Murder Under Cover by Kate Carlisle – Book Review

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott – now in paperback & giveaway!

How to Be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway – Mini Review

Married with Zombies by Jesse Petersen – Book Review

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