The Subtle Knife: Check!

Well, I guess my Kindle is working in terms of getting me to read more!  We are only seven days into the new year and already I've finished 2 books (and am 11% into The Amber Spyglass). 

I actually didn't like The Subtle Knife at all...it was strange and definitely didn't have the quality of adventure I felt in The Golden Compass.  I'm thinking it may have had something to do with the fact that it mostly took place in this world in present day.  I also wasn't really sure the whole time what Lyra and Will's goal was.  I mean, I realize they were searching for Will's father, but there was not really any sense of why or any urgency or anything that tied the two stories together.  It was as if I was watching a TV show and a character from a COMPLETELY different show showed up and they continued the story by trying to fit their worlds together, with a strange result.  I'm thinking something like a vampire shows up during How I Met Your Mother or something equally as strange.  The whole thing was disjointed and kind of forced.  I don't know...I guess it just wasn't my favorite. 

The good news is that I'm now reading the Amber Spyglass, and am liking that better, as it is starting to make sense again.  So far Will is searching for Lyra, which seems a plausible storyline, and definitely presents some urgency.  I'll report on this when I finish, which will be in 8 hours, as my kindle has so kindly let me know.  After that, I'll have to see if Return of the King is available at the ebook library, and if not I'll have to find something else from my list.

The Golden Compass: Check!

I just finished read The Golden Compass, book 1 of the His Dark Materials series (#9)  I enjoyed it up until the last section of the book, where it got a little tedious and boring.  I now have two other books in that series to finish (which puts me midway through two different trilogies: this one and LOTR)

I read this book when I was 13 or 14 and didn't remember too much about it.  I remember it took me a long time to get through and that I didn't particularly enjoy it.  This time, though I was much more interested and for most of the book couldn't put it down.  I hope the other books are as good.

It was interesting to read about a universe that was almost like ours, but had very distinct differences (daemons, for example). The next book supposedly takes place in a world like ours, but Lyra somehow is part of that as well.  The Subtle Knife is definitely my next read, as I try to power through this series.

I will leave you with some of my favorite quotes:

"That is the duty of the old," said the Librarian, "to be anxious on behalf of the young.  And the duty of the young is to scorn the anxiety of the old."   (p. 32)

"Yes, I could teach.  Give me the right pupil, and I will light a fire in his mind!"   (p. 330)

"The stars are alive, child.  Did you know that?  Everything out there is alive, and there are grand purposes abroad.  The universe is full of intentions you know.  Everything happens for a purpose.   (p. 330)

"In the same moment, one future would close forever as the other began to unfold"   (p. 349)

Obligatory New Years Post

Well, my numbers this year were disappointing at best.  I read a grand total of 4 books....2 of which were not even on the list, and 1 that I had read already.  All in all, I crossed Cloud Atlas off my list this year.

Maybe 2014 will be the year I finish Lord of the Rings.

Even with my dismal end of the year outcome, today has been an exciting day for reading, and I joined the modern world (of 2010 or so) and bought a kindle.  I've had it for less than half a day, but I am really enjoying it so far.  I figured out that many of the books I need to read are free as they are out of copyright, and many of the rest I can borrow from the library online somehow.  Today I borrowed and downloaded The Golden Compass so that I could start the His Dark Materials series.  I have read that book before, but it was during high school and I was not such a fan.  (However, I felt obligated to read it, as it was a birthday present from a friend).  The only thing I remember about it was that it took place somewhere with snow and was kind of mysterious and there was a girl with a funky name who had a shapeshifter pet with her at all times.

So, now I'm about 15% through the book (my kindle now conveniently calculates my percentage) and enjoying it much more than the first time.  Hopefully it will be a quick read for me.  Apparently the whole book will take me less than 6 hours.....not sure how the kindle knows that but so far it's pretty accurate, so we'll see.

Back to reading!

TKAM: Check!

I finally finished To Kill A Mockingbird.  [does celebratory dance]

I started reading the book this summer after chasing around and trying to decide which version to buy.  I had a terrible time deciding, because I wanted a paperback with the tree on the front, but without the ragged pages.  Every paperback with the tree had the ragged pages, and so did the hardcover.  Eventually, after much turmoil about needing to have the "right" cover, I gave up and got the cheapest version with no ragged pages and a different cover.  I ended up liking the cover I got very much, especially because there is a tree on the cover that continues to the spine and back.  On the spine is the knot in the tree with a dolls and a watch and coins in it, and there are silhouettes of Scout and Jem and a bird and the title is written out on the branches of the tree.  While it is not original, I enjoy it quite a bit.  Here is a picture of the front and back cover and spine.

I had to read this book in ninth grade in little chunks and answer comprehension questions.  At the end we had to take a test on the plot of the story.  I liked the book OK while answering questions, but it was too disjointed for me to pay attention to what was actually going on.  So, I reread the book in preparation for the test and liked it SOOO much better. 

This summer I got a "craving" to read it, and so I started it.  I continued reading throughout the summer and even took it with me on a mini road trip vacation.  I was about 2/3 done when I got a full time job and put it on hold for a while, only to pick it back up a week ago and finish.  It was even better than last time.

Then I caught the reading bug again.  I have a list of movies I'd like to see when they come out on DVD, one of which was "The Perks of Being a Wallflower."  However, I decided I needed to read the book before I saw the movie, so I read it in a couple of days and literally just finished.  It was interesting because it mentioned To Kill A Mockingbird in the very beginning, and really reminded me of The Catcher in the Rye, which is another book the main character, Charlie, reads.  I enjoyed the book in the first half, and then it started getting kind of gloomy.  It wasn't my favorite ever, but it was definitely a quick read.  As a bonus, I can watch the movie now.

As always, my goal is to finish LOTR next, but as we all know, I will inevitably become sidetracked by something else that takes 3 months and I say I will finish it later.  I'm hopeful, though.  Happy Thanksgiving!

The Secret Life of Bees

The good: I finished one of the three books I was simultaneously reading.
The bad: It was not on the list.
(the ugly: it probably didn't deserve to be on the list anyway)

I finished The Secret Life of Bees.  It was decent, in the way that most former bestsellers are.  I could see why it was popular, why it initially cost $14 and how I ended up paying $0.50 for it at a used book sale on the half off last day.  It was an easy read (I would also categorize it as a "quick read" even though I took my sweet time getting through it) and it was entertaining and would have been a perfect vacation book had I needed something to take to the beach.  I enjoyed the book, but found it a little predictable, oddly pervy, and got the impression that it was trying too hard.  The symbolism was a little forced, in my opinion, and there were too many symbolic/motif things going on at once.  The queen bee, the Virgin Mary, the mother, Beatrice the Nun, etc., made the symbolism too jumbled, and the more there was, the more confusing it became.  It was like one of the characters was supposed to symbolize the queen bee, but there were too many other symbols that made it difficult to figure out exactly which character it was.  However, there can only be one queen.  It was like the author was making arguments for each character......

......which is why when I googled this just now, I got a variety of answers, none of which I agree with.  I will come back to this later.

Don't get me wrong.  I enjoyed the story, the characters, and especially the setting.  It made me want to start driving to the middle of rural South Carolina and find the pink house and just stay there, like Lily.  However, the thing I most enjoyed were the epitaphs in the beginnings of the chapters.  All were from nonfiction books on bees and beekeeping, and gave some insight into the story.  The one that stuck with me the most was the one about a queenless hive:

"The queen, for her part, is the unifying force of the community: if she is removed from the hive, the workers very quickly sense her absence.  After a few hours, or even less, they show unmistakable signs of queenlessness." (epitaph for chapter 1)

Another that I liked:

"A queenless colony is a pitiful and melancholy community: there may be a mournful wail or lament from within...Without intervention, the colony will die.  But introduce a new queen and the most extravagant change takes place." (epitaph for chapter 14).

Back to the answers who "Who is the queen bee in the story?"
One possible answer: August, because she is the leader of the sisters and the congregation they started and is the person who Lily feels closest to in the story.
My thoughts: Disagree, because queens are by definition mothers, and August is not a mother.  Additionally, the epitaphs regarding queen bees are not relevant if August is considered the queen bee...exactly.
Another possible answer: Mary, because she is "the mother of thousands," as Lily says herself.
My thoughts: This is possible.  While Mary is a mother, and brings people together, the epitaphs do not seem completely relevant UNLESS the message in this book is that everyone must have religion.  In that case, the epitaphs regarding queenlessness are really about not having a religion.  And while I agree that religion can bring people together, I do not agree that a community can "die" without religion.  So while it is possible, I find it a little far fetched and preachy for my tastes.

Which is why I believe the actual queen is not a specific person at all, but a mother figure.  Initially, I believed Lily's mother Deborah was the actual queen bee in the novel, and to an extent I believe that is true.  That is why chapter 1 begins with an explanation of "queenlessness" that shows T.Ray and Lily's relationship and family without Deborah around.  It is clear that they do not respect each other or value each other, and that Lily feels incomplete without her mother there.  Lily's life is "pitiful and melancholy," and she sends much of her time obsessing over her mother and the circumstances surrounding her death.  She blames herself and is confused by the things she cannot remember.  For most of the book, she dealt with this "without intervention," i.e. by keeping it a secret.  However, when she opens up to August and pieces together the truth, she is able to deal with it and move on.  While is still "queenless," i.e. motherless, August is introduced as the new queen, or new mother figure, which is why we begin to see a change in Lily.

(You can probably now see why I felt the symbolism regarding the queen bee was a little jumbled with Mary thrown into the mix).

Next I plan to finish To Kill A Mockingbird.  Stay tuned for a further discussion of symbolism, this time (if I remember correctly) more subtle and less jumbled.  And then LOTR.  For real this time.

(Side note: I have been buying one Harry Potter book per year (what's that you say?  How could I not own them when I have read them all multiple times?  I ask myself that same question every day) to add to my collection to spread the cost out/so I can use coupons/so my package is not 100 pounds/to keep track of years passing/etc, and while it was out of order, I bought #7 (the hardcover) today at a thrift store for (drumroll please!!!!!) $2.42!!!  If I could put numbers in caps, I would, I was was that excited.  And my standards for buying books, especially used books, are extremely high, including no torn or bent pages or covers, and no creases in the binding (unimportant in hardcovers with sleeves), which explains why it is a big deal when I buy anything at a used book sale.  However, this one looks like it was preordered, read once the night it came out, and never looked at again.  It didn't even smell weird!  I WAS SO EXCITED!!  So now the only one I have missing is the sixth one, and I may have to do some creative trading on the fifth one, which is the most recent one I have purchased, and while it is very nit-picky and ridiculous, it irks me that the pages are not as thick as the other books, so while #5 is technically the longest book, it actually is smaller than #4 because of the pages thickness.  Ridiculous, I know, but something that has been bothering me since I got it a month or so ago.  So.....I'll figure it out.  I wish they had the other ones at the thrift store too so I could complete my collection for not much money.  But I did the calculations, and based on the original price of $34.99, I got the book for a whopping 93% off.  While that is fabulous, I am currently asking myself who donates Harry Potter to the thrift store?  Seriously?)

Simultaneous Reading

Well, it's finally summer.  The season of no school, of hot weather, of vacations and swimming and having lots of time to myself to just read.  It's also the season of street fairs and used book sales and me ordering books online to use for tutoring and treating myself to a few as well.  This year, summer brought a late spring cleaning, which led to me inheriting some books that my sister got from the woman whose children we used to babysit after her book club was done with them.  Needless to say, I am even more surrounded by reading material now, have no space, and am not sure what to read next!

So, I have unintentionally embarked on a journey of reading several books at once.  It started with my trip to used book sale #1, where I picked up (for fifty cents each) The Secret Life of Bees, Catch Me If You Can (the book), and Bridget Jones's Diary (already read but hilarious).  My sister then gave me The Tales of Beetle the Bard, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, The Time Traveler's Wife, and Water for Elephants (which I have already read and enjoyed but not as much as the movie).  I then attended used book sale #2, where I purchased Vanity Fair (#79) for another fifty cents.  So, that's 8 books for a whopping $2.00.  I then decided to purchase some books online as a gift to myself, which ended up being Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (in preparation for next year, since I have been buying myself one book per year until the set is complete), To Kill A Mockingbird, and Bossypants by Tina Fey (which I have listened to on audiobook and loved and definitely had to own it, especially since the new version is an orange-y peach color).

I then got a very strong urge to read To Kill A Mockingbird, and was a little ashamed that I did not own the book.  I went on an excursion to several book stores and could not find a version that I liked (the hard cover with the correct cover had ragged pages, the hard cover with nice page edges had the wrong cover and was expensive, the paperback versions was too small, etc.) so after hemming and hawing for a couple of days, I decided to just get the small paperback with the wrong cover (I was never a big fan of the strange looking tree anyways) because it was cheaper, and now that I have it, I like it and enjoy the fact that it looks unique.  I'm just a little ways in right now and Jem has just rescued his pants from the Radley's fence.  I remember reading this freshman year of high school and enjoying it (and rereading it in a day because I had, as most high schoolers do, run out of time to read  for homework (ie procrastinated and found better things to do) and sparknoted most of the book) and did want to reread it for this challenge.

While school is in session, I like to have a book in my bag that is an easy read that can be easily taken out and put away and read in small sections, so I started Secret Life of Bees for that purpose and got a little ways into that one as well.  I'll have to finish that one up to decrease the number of books I'm reading at once.  My plan is to possibly get an audiobook of it, as I am going to be driving 7 hours to visit a friend this weekend and may enjoy hearing the story on the way.

The third book I'm reading is Vanity Fair since it ended up at my boyfriend's house after the sale we went to, and although I am about 5 pages in right now, it seems enjoyable and a little easier to read than I had anticipated.

So, once at least two of those are done, I'll head into Lord of the Rings.  (but I've said that so many times that I hardly believe myself and definitely wouldn't bet money on it!)  Happy Summer!

Cloud Atlas: Check!

I finished Cloud Atlas.  Mind blown.  Definitely was an experience through time and through characters that left me questioning what actually happened in the book and which characters  may have been reincarnates of each other.  It made me realize that humans are not so different from each other, our ancestors, and those yet to come.  Good job, David Mitchell.

My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops? (pg. 509)



Next up: Lord of the Rings Return of the King, I promise!!  I want this series over and done with.  Then what?  No idea.  Hopefully I'll be done with that book by November, haha.