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.

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.

challenge heaven

Okay, despite the fact that I have emphatically declared myself "not a book blogger," I am, of course, still a reader. And being a reader, I am obviously still allowed to participate in reading challenges, right? Of course, I'm right! See, the thing is most of the coolest reading challenges out there are hosted by friends anyway. Since they are the coolest people, it just goes to follow that they would have the coolest challenges, doesn't it? :D Eva is co-hosting the Women Unbound Challenge, Amanda is hosting the GLBT Challenge, Carl will be hosting the Sci Fi Experience, Once Upon a Time, and RIP Challenges again, hopefully Trish will be hosting the Non-Fiction Five again, and now Ana and Chris are hosting the Graphic Novels Challenge! I tell you, life does not get any better than this!!!! I am sooooooo excited about this one! In fact, I think that all five of us here in the Stevens household shall be participating. :D

And just look at this awesomely cool button:

Heck, that's reason enough to join. :D

I can't believe that it's only been two years since I started reading graphic novels. And at this point, I don't think I could live without them. It is a medium of storytelling that I find so satisfying in so many ways. And to think, that if not for blogging, I may never have picked one up. Dewey, and Ana, and Chris, and Carl...these are the people who really introduced me to the world of comics...and no "thank you" could ever be big enough for that.

The challenge has various levels of participation...the lowest being just three books (hence, I think even reluctant reader Max can handle this one). But I'm shooting for the highest, which, at ten books, shouldn't pose a problem even for me. (If I counted correctly, I've read 40 even so far this year...that's more than I'd even realized.)

We don't have to make a list ahead of time, but I just can't resist making a list for anything, so here's some that I will likely read (this list is chosen merely because they happen to be in our house at the moment...I've a feeling blogger would kick me out for using too much space if I tried to post a list of all the graphic novels I WANT to read).

Currently out from the library:
*The Eternal Smile by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim
*Life Sucks by Jessica Abel and Gabe Soria and Warren Pleece
*A Distant Soil: The Gathering by Colleen Doran
*A Distant Soil II: The Ascendant by Colleen Doran
*Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda by Jean-Philippe Stassen
*Ghost World by Daniel Clowes
*Notes for a War Story by Gipi

Already on my shelves:
*Black Hole by Charles Burns
*Mijeong by Buyn Byung-Jun
*The Dreaming (vols. 1 and 2) by Queenie Chan
*Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez
*Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
*A Midnight Opera (vols. 1-3) by Hans Steinbach
*Nightmares & Fairy Tales: Once Upon a Time... by Serena Valentino
*The Book of Ballads by Charles Vess
*Fables: Arabian Nights (and Days) by Bill Willingham
*Fables: Wolves by Billingham
*Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
*The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
*Palestine by Joe Sacco
*The Photographer by Emmanuel Guibert, Didier Lefevre, and Frederic Lemercier

To borrow from Rich:
*Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species: A Graphic Adaptation by Michael Keller
*Dracula adapted by Michael Mucci, Ben Caldwell, and Bill Halliar
*The Vietnam War: A Graphic History by Dwight Jon Zimmerman and Wayne Vansant

 To borrow from Annie:
*Fruits Basket (vols. 1-3) by Natsuki Takaya
*Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne by Arina Tanemura

To borrow from Gray:
*Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 by David Petersen
*Redwall: The Graphic Novel by Brian Jacques

*****
It hasn't been a very big reading month for me so far...only four books so far (and one of them shouldn't really count as a book). This makes me so sad. :(  And it's not that everyone else seems to get so much more read than I do. It's more that I get to thinking about how finite life is...and oh my, so many books are going to go left unread. *sigh*

My first read of December would make an excellent choice for the Graphic Novels Challenge! Blankets by Craig Thompson. I picked it up from the library simply because Dewey had mentioned how much she loved it. (That's a good enough reason to read any book, if you ask me.) Oh my god, I loved this book! Sort of a story of first love. Of a painful childhood. Of questioning one's religious beliefs. Seriously, it was just such a wonderful read.

Next, I finished Subject to Debate: Sense and Dissents on Women, Politics, and Culture by Katha Pollitt. Great book for the Women Unbound Challenge, btw. Great book, period. (But I should say straight out that it's likely not a book everyone would enjoy, especially if your worldview differs from hers...she is decidedly liberal.) This book is a collection of her essays from The Nation, covering the second half of the 1990s. But despite the fact that these essays are often about events long past, so often the ideas are still extremely relevant in today's world. Pollitt has a wonderfully strong voice--she definitely doesn't hold back. She is a master of sarcasm, and at times had me laughing out loud. A few times, she had me in tears as well. Mostly, she had me feeling outraged at the injustice in the world. Intelligent, compassionate, and not afraid to call 'em as she sees 'em. Thanks again, Ana, for introducing me to her! (Ana's reviews of Reasonable Creatures and Virginity or Death! can be found here and here, respectively.)

Next up was The Professor's Daughter by Joann Sfar. Another graphic novel. And I have Amanda to thank for this one, because this review left me utterly intrigued. So, did I enjoy this book? Yeah, I can honestly say that I did. Though I found it utterly odd! But what did I expect from a book about a young woman who falls in love with Imhotep IV, who at the time of the novel has been a mummy for thousands of years. My biggest complaint is that it just seemed to end too abruptly. Oh, and I did very much love the art in this one! A sample:

And my most recent read--And All Through the House by Ed McBain. This was a mini-book--it wasn't a novel, or even a novella, but more of a short story in book form. It was a total impulse grab from the library. Thought a nice little Christmas story might be fun. And while it wasn't completely terrible or anything, I really could have lived without it. Just totally forgettable, if you know what I mean. Despite the fact that it was only forty short pages, I really wish I'd spent the time on something else.