I read, I feel, I babble (installment 2)

Between XX and XY: Intersexuality and the Myth of Two Sexes by Gerald N. Callahan.

*sigh* I'm not quite sure what to say about this book...I just have incredibly mixed feelings about it. See, it's such an important topic. And trying to dispel the myth of two sexes, of an either/or mindset, is such an incredibly worthwhile endeavor. And this book contained so much interesting information. Seriously, I learned so much.

My favorite part of the whole book were the personal stories. But I enjoyed a lot of the book--the look at the way other cultures have viewed intersex, the look at intersex in other species, etc. Like I said, there really is a lot of interesting stuff here.

BUT. Truth be told, I wish someone else had written this book. I really hate saying that, because I could sense the author's passion for the subject in general, and his respect for intersex people specifically. And it's not the worst writing I've ever encountered, though it wasn't the best either...and honestly, I could have easily overlooked that, if not for the trouble I did have. What got to me were the author's attempts at humor. Now truth be told, I'm usually okay with lame humor. But there were times in this book when these attempts at humor crossed the line into tacky. I realize that's a very subjective judgment to make, and maybe others wouldn't feel the same way, but it really bothered me. And in the general, this clouded my reading experience.

And in the end, I'm just not sure if I recommend this book or not. Like I said, this is important stuff here. But I was left questioning his presentation. *sigh some more*

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.

Now this book, I loved. Positively adored. I bought the 25th anniversary edition, which contained an intro/essay at the beginning by Cisneros. I know that sometimes it can be a dangerous thing to read the intro of a book, as some aren't wise enough to avoid spoilers. But in this case, I am so very grateful that I read it. Cisneros' essay made me fall in love with the book, and her writing, before I even began the book proper. I know it's impossible to go back and know for sure, but I honestly believe that her essay truly added to my experience with the book itself.

I have to admit that knowing this was a serious of vignettes scared me a little bit at first. But that was totally misplaced fear. This book was so lovely. It never felt the slightest bit disjointed to me. As usual, I'm having trouble putting into words how wonderful I think this little gem of a book is, but trust me I loved it. For so many reasons.

And yes, one of those reasons, is the writing. I confess that I'm not terribly "sophisticated" when it comes to an appreciation of beautiful prose. I suspect that in general I'm pretty much oblivious. I tend to get lost in stories and characters and fail to notice how the author got to me to that place. But every once in a while, someone's writing gets to me. Ray Bradbury...he definitely has a way of doing that. While I didn't fall quite so hard for her prose as I did for Mr. Bradbury's, it's still early in the game, and I can't wait to read more of her writing.

Redwall: The Graphic Novel by Brian Jacques, with art by Bret Blevins.

Rich used to read the Redwall books to Annie when she was younger, and now he's reading them to the boys. I'm not sure why, but they just never interested me at all. But Gray had this graphic adaptation, and back in February, when the mini-challenge for the Graphic Novels Challenge was to read a comic featuring animals, I figured this was the perfect time for me to see what Redwall was all about.

Honestly, I didn't fall head-over-heels in love. It's highly unlikely that I will dive into the novel series. But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy this graphic adaptation--honestly, I had a lot more fun with it than I thought I would. But my goodness, those little forest critters sure can be violent. ;)

The story was fun, but really nothing earth-shattering. But the art, oh the art--that I adored. It's beautiful, and it's expressive. Unfortunately, I couldn't find many images on-line, but here are the couple I did:

Like I said, it's unlikely that I'll ever get around to reading the novel series, but should they continue with the graphic adaptations...well, I suspect I'd slip them into my TBR pile at some point.

I read, I feel, I babble... (mini installment)

Okay, I just finished this book. Just now. And if I was smart, I'd wait a bit to write this. Because maybe, just maybe I could say something coherent if I gave this some thought. Something beyond, "Go read this book! Seriously...do this now!"

Yes, right this minute I want to say, "This is the best book. Ever." Though in my head, I know that it is not *really* my favorite book of all time. But for right now, it is! At this moment, it really truly is!!!! Oh, and how I want this book high to last...

Reading this book, I wanted to be 30 years younger...and I wanted to find my way into the pages of this book. I so wanted these characters to be my friends. I loved Will. And I loved Will. I loved Jane, and Tiny, and Gideon. I loved how perfectly imperfect they all were. And how truly special and lovable and real that made them.

I lost count of how many times I laughed out loud. Not that I was ever keeping count. But you know how it is...you don't really mean to keep count, but you sort of know anyway. That is, until it happens so many times that the knowledge is not automatically available as a tally anymore. Yeah, it happened way too many times for automatic tallying in this book.

And it's a rare gift that something can be so incredibly funny...and yet say so much that really matters. I'm having a hard time boiling this book down to themes though. Yes, friendship. And love. And truth...in a myriad of permutations. And discovering a way to navigate this screwed-up, complicated, confusing, and incredibly wonderful thing we call life. But there's more to it, and I can't quite figure out how to put it into words. And really, it's this "thing" that I can't explain that made me love it the most. Oh crap. You really need to go read some reviews by people who can actually write. Actually, skip that...just go read the book!

I read, I feel, I babble...

You know what...I've given up all notions of ever being able to write anything resembling a review. I'm done with even half-hearted attempts. I've accepted the fact that I can't write a book summary, and I sure can't analyze a book to save my life. Though I very much enjoy reading others talk so beautifully about books, I just. can't. do it. And frankly, it makes me miserable when I try. But I love reading. I tend to experience books on such an emotional level, and I seem somewhat incapable of transferring it to an intellectual level. I feel like I should apologize, but what's the point in that...I am who I am. And being who I am, I'm just going to go with it...and share my experiences with reading. In which you'll probably learn nothing about the book itself. So yeah, please feel free to skip my posts...life is far too short.

So, here's what I've read over the last few weeks:

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. The first time I read this book I was about 14-years-old, the second time I must have been in my early 30s, but it's only now in my mid-40s, with my third read, that I've really fallen in love with this book. Don't get me wrong, I've always liked it. A lot, even. But, and I'm not quite sure how to explain it, this time something deep inside me clicked. It may sound sort of pathetic, but I think I relate better to Holden now than I ever have in the past. Obviously there's a lot of differences...we're at drastically different points in our lives, we live in different times, etc. Yet I've never quite felt that disconnect with the world that Holden does quite so profoundly as I do now. I don't have a problem relating with people on an individual level in the way that Holden does, but when it comes to the world at large, well, I can't help but feel sad and angry and helpless. And I sort of can't help but sometimes wish for innocence.

Sheesh, I am pathetic, huh?!!


The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness. I asked Chris if I could just copy and paste his thoughts here, but unsurprisingly, he said "no." ;) So instead, I'm just going to take this opportunity to thank Patrick Ness for a few things...

...for going to the hard places, and making me go along.

...for characters so real that I experienced love. And I experienced hate. And often I experienced some garbled up combination of the two.

...for black and white and oh so many, many shades of gray.

...for unexpected tears.


Carnet de Voyage by Craig Thompson. OMG. This book is soooo cool! Seriously. So. Cool. And it reminds me so much of the travel journals I keep myself when I travel. Really, it does. Well, with a few minor exceptions, that is. Like a.) Craig Thompson is a far better writer than I am--funnier, more interesting, more insightful--that sort of thing, b.) he visits more exotic locales than I do, and c.) his travel journal is filled with tons more incredibly gorgeous drawings than mine are ('cause...well...mine have none, not even horribly drawn ones). But other than those few things, you'd really be hard pressed to tell them apart. ;)

Other random thoughts circling around in my head:
>Awww, he drew so many kitties.
>He may have killed my long-standing desire to visit Morocco. But he seriously has me wanting to visit Barcelona.
>He's sort of a wimpy traveler, just like me. ;)
>In fact, he reminds me of me in so many ways. Like this snippet: "But then once again, my CHAOS TOLERANCE is overloaded. I have trouble breathing..." Or this one: "I'm happy & sad & naive & deluded & insecure & egocentric."
>Thank you again, Ana!


Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. You know, I've sat down and tried to write about this book four times now. And I just couldn't the words out. I still can't. But I wanted to at least mention it...because it's an amazing book. A powerful book. A book I wish everyone would read, though I realize most people won't, for a myriad of personal reasons.

Oh, something I did learn...I love the way Jonathan Safran Foer writes, and am now more eager (and a little less afraid) to dig into some of his fiction.

six thumbs up

(None of could stick with just one thumb on this one!)

Kaspar Prince of Cats by Michael Morpurgo.

*Our favorite characters:

Max: Kaspar. He's a cat. He survived the sinking Titanic.

Gray: Kaspar, because he's an adventurous cat. And he really is the prince of cats.

Mom: Johnny Trott. What an awesome kid! He had such a tough life, but he just sucked it up and did what he needed to do to survive. And on top of that, he had such an amazingly kind heart.

*Our favorite events:

Gray: The most exciting part of the book was when the iceberg hit the Titanic. Everyone was in danger. Everyone was really brave even though it was a scary time. I also liked the part when Johnny Trott climbed up the roof to save Lizziebeth, and he had no ropes or ladders or anything.

Max: My favorite part was when Johnny Trott and Lizziebeth were climbing up the hotel. Lizziebeth was trying to save a pigeon, and Johnny Trott was trying to save Lizziebeth. My second favorite was when the Titanic sank because it hit an iceberg.

Mom: My favorite part was seeing Skullface get the ax. There's just something so satisfying watching karma in action. ;) Okay, maybe that's a silly thing to pick as my favorite, but this book was so darn good, it's just hard to pick.

*Our least favorite character:

All: Skullface!

Gray: She was a grumpy, really mean lady who hated pets. Even Kaspar!

*Overall feelings:

Gray: It was a really great book! I would enjoy reading other books by this author.

Max: It's one of my favorite books ever! Thanks Chris, for getting me this book for Christmas! I want to buy you a book that's this good.

Mom: I adored this book...I really did. It is such a little treasure. It's sweet, without being sappy. And there are certainly moments of real sadness. And moments of suspense. Characters you couldn't help fall in love with. Tender friendships. Really, I just loved it. And I especially loved reading it with my two favorite little boys.

finally

Sheesh, I was beginning to think that I was never going to finish another book again. :(

But now I've finished two. Two, while both being graphic novels, could not be more different from one another. Perfect example of how comics are NOT a genre.

First up, there's Four Letter Worlds, an anthology of short stories. Total impulse pick-up from the library. The unique concept really caught my eye. The book is divided into four sections: Love, Hate, Fear, and Fate. Each section contains four stories, each eight pages long, each with another four letter title.

As is the case with most any short story anthology, there were some stories that I loved more than others. Some authors amazed me with their ability to convey so much in so few pages.

The first story in the book was definitely my favorite. "Spin" by F. Clay Moore with art by Steven Griffin. Seriously, I so totally loved this story. First love and music and growing up. Very bittersweet.

But then wham, like a painful smack upside the head, came the next story "Lust." Ugh. I positively despised it. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Just crude, with nothing really to offer. Or if it did, I totally missed it.

And with those first two stories, I got my strongest reactions out of the way. There were several more stories I really enjoyed, one that I hate to admit I didn't really understanding the ending of, some were just meh, but there were no more that I truly hated. Overall, I'm glad I picked up the book...I loved that I could pick it up and read a whole story in just a few minutes.

As with the written stories, the art was quite varied. Again, I enjoyed the art in some stories more than the art in others, but this wonderful variety in style made the book quite fun all on its own. And at times the difference in the artists' styles was quite startlingly obvious, as each story ended on the left page with a new one beginning on the right.

Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species: A Graphic Adaptation by Michael Keller, with beautiful art by Nicolle Rager Fuller.

I realize that most of the few people reading this have already read Ana's beautiful review, and maybe a couple of you have even read Rich's glowing review, so really, you don't need me to say much. I'll just offer you a quick few thoughts:

1.) Gorgeous!!! Nicolle Rager Fuller is one talented artist. (And for a totally irrelevant piece of info: Before reading her mini bio on the dust jacket, I didn't know that one could receive a graduate certificate in science illustration.)

2.) The book is divided into three sections: the first tells a brief version of the story of how Darwin came to write On the Origin of Species, the second and longest section is a chapter-by-chapter summary of the book, and the final section of the book talks about the breakthroughs in evolutionary theory since Darwin's time.

One of my favorite things about the book is how the second section, the adaptation itself is told mostly in Darwin's actual words, coming directly from Darwin's masterpiece itself. I really need to thank Rich for not saying, "I told you so!" I've always been quite certain that I wouldn't understand Darwin's writings. But Rich has always pretty much answered my fears with, "Piffle!" He's told me time and again that On the Origin of Species is Darwin's most accessible book (he did write to be read by the general public, after all), and that I should give it a chance. I now have to admit that he was right. :)

Still, I will confess that I likely will not be reading Darwin's original...not because I wouldn't enjoy it, as I'm now convinced I would, but just because there are so many books I simply want to read first. Sorry, babe...but hey, I did just admit in public the error of my ways, right? ;)

3.) I feel like there should be a "3"...but I can't off the top of my head figure out what it should be.

book babble...Maxie style

So I gave in and let him have his choice of photo first. ;)

All five of us here in the Stevens household are happy to be participating in the Graphic Novels Challenge this year. Thinking that he would rather be doing about 384 other things besides reading, Max is perhaps the least enthusiastic. Or so he likes to tell us. But actions speak louder than words...Max is ahead of all of us, having completed two comics thus far. (Annie has completed her first, Rich and I are each in the midst of our firsts, and Gray hasn't yet started one.)

Here's here what Max had to say about his first two selections:

The 8th Garfield Treasury by Jim Davis

I liked Garfield the book, because I like Garfield the cat. It was a really, really, really funny book. I liked when Garfield made a snowman and put it in the fridge, and then Garfield, John, and Odie were going to eat it. And it was funny was when the lawn mower was chasing John. Garfield was watching it like it was a movie.
Garfield and John and Odie always fight. Sometimes I fight with my brother, but never with my cat.
This book was from the library, but I wish I owned it. I hope I can find more Garfield comics.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, Part Two by Akira Himekawa

This is the third Zelda graphic novel I've read, but I have a few more to go. That's good, because I like them. They are exciting, because there are warriors fighting with swords and big humungous monsters. They're trying to defeat the power of darkness. Zelda is a princess.
I like the art in these books. I wish I could draw like that.

And just a few questions:

Mom: Do you like comics?

Max: Yes. They're easier to read than big, long chapter books. But they still tell good stories. And it's fun to look at the art.

Mom: Do you sometimes like to draw your own comics?

Max: Yes, because I like drawing and making up stories.

Mom: How many more graphic novels do you think you'll read this year for the challenge?

Max: Eighty-six.

I hope he makes his goal. :D

*****
January 12th "Good Stuff"

*Waking up to find the most wonderful e-mail from the most wonderful friend! Thank you, again, Chris!

*After all my complaining yesterday about the recent insomnia problems, I ended up having the best night's sleep I've had all year!

*Our internet is decidedly slow, and frankly, just totally flaky today. My initial reaction was frustration, but then I realized it just made for the perfect excuse to stay away for the computer for the most part and get some other things done.

*Grape Nuts. :) When I went to get out the oatmeal to make Max's breakfast this morning, I saw the box of Grape Nuts...I'd totally forgotten that I'd bought them. Mmmmmmm.

*Gray survived his "performance"! Though the assembly was at the very end of the day, and he's now worried about going to school tomorrow, because he's convinced that everyone is going to make fun of him. Poor guy...I'm afraid his worrying skills rival his mother's. 


*New books! Another gift card bit the dust...the books I ordered a few days ago already arrived. :D And there's points to hand out here:
--For The Beekeeper's Apprentice, there are three points to be handed out (it was one of those ganging up deals): one to Eva, one to Pat, and one to Ana.
--For Dark Banquet: Blood and the Curious Lives of Blood-Feeding Creatures, another point to Eva.
--For How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity, point for Amanda.
--For In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu's Congo, yet another point for Eva.

a nice surprise

I can't tell you how much this little book took me by surprise. Why that should be so, I don't know. I mean it is a Newbery Medal winner. While I haven't had 100% good luck with the Newberys, I've certainly loved most of the ones I've read. And it's set during the Dust Bowl. This largely man-made environmental/human disaster simply fascinates me. Maybe partially because of stories of farm life in Nebraska during the Great Depression told by my father-in-law (though they mostly missed the dust storms). Probably partially because of having read The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan, a book I thoroughly enjoyed. Anyway, when I think about it, I should have expected to enjoy this book...but I didn't. I didn't really expect to dislike it either, or I probably never would have read it at all. (My reason for reading it was because I needed a short literature selection to throw into our history unit before we get to The Grapes of Wrath.)

Anyway, here I am babbling away without really saying anything at all about the book. Yeah, that is my modus operandi, isn't it? So, the book. I absolutely loved it! I thought it was just a perfect little gem of a book. Told from the perspective of Billie Jo, a young teenager living in Oklahoma in the 1930s. It's written in free verse...which, had I known beforehand, might have scared me away. Glad I didn't know, because it turns out that I really loved its style. No one living through the Dust Bowl had an easy time of it, and Billie Jo's family was certainly no exception. And added to the extreme hardships of this life, Billie Jo experiences a much more personal tragedy. All of this could have led to a very depressing book, but honestly, it didn't. Sure, there was a great deal of sadness. I read much of this book in the waiting room at the kids' dentist's office, and as hard as I tried to fight back the tears, a couple of times I found a stray one sliding down my cheek. But it's one of those books that is very much about hope, about clinging to those things that bring you happiness, about perseverence, and about accepting change.

Here's a taste:

Foul as Maggoty Stew

Arley Wanderdale said
the rehearsals for Sunny of Sunnyside
shouldn't take me out of school
more than twice next week.

When I told Ma she got angry about
My missing school to play piano for some show.

Me and Daddy,
we're trying our best to please Ma,
for fear of what it might do to the baby if we don't.
I don't know why she's
so against my playing.
She says that school is important,
but I do all right in school.
I know she doesn't like the kind
of music I play,
but sometimes I think she's
just plain jealous
when I'm at the piano
and she's not.
And maybe she's a little afraid
of me going somewhere with the music
she can't follow.
Or of the music taking me
so far away one day
I'll never come home.
Whatever the reason, she said I couldn't do it.
Arley had to get somebody to take my place.


I do as she says. I go to school,
and in the afternoons I come home,
run through my chores,
do my reading and my math work at the
kitchen table
and all the while I glare at Ma's back with a scowl
foul as maggoty stew.

March 1934

January 6th "Good Stuff"

*This bumper sticker I saw on someone's car today: "Loving Kindness is my religion."

*Having a very productive morning at the library while Annie did her volunteering.

*Starting Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species: A Graphic Adaptation...sooooo good! And graphic novels period. And the Graphic Novels Reading Challenge. And two of my bestest friends in the whole wide world who are co-hosting the challenge.