2008 Reading Resolution

I'm not a fan of New Year's Resolutions. It has nothing to do with the Resolution part, I just never got the part about doing it (or making a big deal about it) on the New Year. Why not make a resolution in July? And while I can think of interesting projects that would be nice for me to embark upon nearly year-round, I always come up with blanks around December 27th. Or maybe it does have to do with the resolution part - my personality tends to avoid resolutions all together: thus sparing myself the guilt of not following through.

That being said, I did make a resolution last year on January 20th (like I said, the 1st was not for me). My resolution for this past year was to read. A lot. I was discussing books with some acquaintances and realized I hadn't read many books for pleasure since, oh - 1998? And now that I've been out of school for over a year, I can spend my evenings reading books for fun instead of meeting educational requirements.

I proceeded to get book recommendations from pretty much everybody I conversed with - students, teachers, friends, family, acquaintances, people I met in elevators. Then I hit the library in force. My rule is that I have to consider every book suggested, and if it is suggested from more than one source I have to read it. This is the first post of two about what books I've read over the past year, which I've enjoyed, and how I feel about completing an actual resolution.

FICTION

I tend to enjoy fiction in the science fiction, fantasy and mystery genres, though I also enjoy general fiction. The only genre I try very hard to steer away from is Romance. Interestingly enough, I enjoy Juvenile Fiction almost as much as Adult Fiction. Here's what I read this year.

Terry Brooks:
The Sword of Shannara

Terry Brooks has a veritable empire in the world of fantasy books and has been recommended to me multiple times over my lifetime. So I asked for a place to start, and this was the book I was recommended - it is his first novel and the first in his extensive Shannara series. It has the distinction of being the first fantasy book EVER to make it onto the New York Times bestseller list. Perhaps I was expecting too much, because I was very disappointed in this novel. It felt very formulaic and unoriginal, and read exactly like a rip-off of Lord of the Rings. Guess that's the last Terry Brooks novel I read!

Sophie Dahl:
Playing With Grown-ups

I picked this book up while browsing at the library. It's a fiction piece about a teenage girl who finds herself moved around by every whim of her very artistically talented and emotionally unstable mother. From drugs to sex to extortion to excursions with quasi-eastern religious groups and everything in-between, it is at times heartbreaking and at times shocking; but the ending cut off at what should have been the climax, and though we can tell (from a flash forward) that protagonist is OK now, we don't get to hear how the heroine pulled herself out of the mess her mother made of her life. Also, despite what appears to be the aim of some of the marketing on the cover, I do not recommend this book for teens.

Neil Gaiman:
Stardust
American Gods
Anansi Boys
Smoke and Mirrors

Neil Gaiman is a general fiction author I have admired since I read his book Good Omens It was a gift from a friend for Christmas, and I read it several times, trying to put together all the pieces. Gaiman's writing is unique in that there are never loose ends, and nothing happens by 'chance' - you see everything coming together in the end in a way you'd never expect earlier in the novel. For instance, what you thought was a casual discussion which helped illuminate a character's personality ends up being a major plot point which the characters refer back to later. So when I received several recommendations for Stardust, I was happy to jump back on the Neil Gaiman bandwagon. I was so impressed with the book (a blend of unique fantasy in Gaiman's unique style) that I picked up American Gods, Anansi Boys, and Smoke and Mirrors. The first two deal with similar material and are classic Gaiman, if you enjoy his style. The last is a series of short stories, if you'd like to get an idea of his style (My favorite was We Can Get Them For You Wholesale about a mild-mannered Englishman who begins by hiring an assassin, who then keeps offering to kill even more people at 'bulk rates') Overall I'd recommend Gaiman, but note that his books are Adult fiction and contain a lot of adult themes and content; I wouldn't recommend them for teens.

Philippa Gregory:
The Other Boleyn Girl

This book is a historical fiction account of Mary Boleyn, the sister of Anne Boleyn (famous second wife of Henry VIII). As it of course deals with divorce, adultery, homosexuality and even hints at incest, it is not a book for children or teens. It may not be terribly historically accurate, either - but it is a good read about this time period where women children were essentially chattel for parents to use in advantageous marriage alliances (or advantageous adulterous alliances). In that respect it's valuable as a tool for seeing the larger world in historical context, and enjoyable to boot.

Frank Herbert:
Dune Series
Dune
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune

I enjoyed these a LOT - enough so that I purchased Dune for my dad on Father's Day. I've always been a fan of the sci-fi/fantasy genre and I don't know how these ones slipped past me. They were recommended by several people - all of whom further recommended I stop after the 3rd in the series, which I did. Hurray for good recommendations!

Brian Jacques:
Redwall

Redwall is the first in a series by Brian Jacques, which has been adapted as an animated television series which ran from 1999-2001. All the characters are forest animals, and the 'good guys' are a bunch of mice in an abbey, which doubles as a safe haven and fortress when the 'bad guys' (a bunch of rats) show up. It's very cheesy, but good lighthearted fun. This series is a good one to read with children.

Gregory Maguire:
Wicked

I first started reading this book while killing time at a Media Play location. I later nabbed it from the library so I could finish it. While the basis of the story is not original material, this retelling (from the perspective of the Wicked Witch) was engaging and interesting, if more than a little disturbing. The reader is presented with a number of issues that might have direct pertinence in the 'real world' but none of them are fully developed and none of them end well either (despite all the best intentions of the good green witch). I also felt the portrayal of the wicked witch as 'good but misunderstood' was a little too formulaic for my taste, and the portrayal of religion as only either a) entertaining 'pleasure faith' or b) boorish 'thou shalt nots' was a little hard to believe. All in all, a pretty good read. I would not recommend this book to teenagers.

L.A. Meyer:
Bloody Jack
The Curse of the Blue Tattoo

I picked up these books when browsing for Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. I'm always up for a good read, and they looked interesting. These two books are the first in a JV fiction series set in the early 1800s about an intrepid street orphan girl "Jacky" who poses as a boy in order to get work and get out of the streets. Over the course of both these books, she continues to make bold and brash decisions than her more polished (and fortunate) female counterparts, often leading her on adventure after adventure after adventure (and, unbeknownst to her, away from her 'one true love' who is desperately trying to catch up with her, following the chain of disasters she invariably leaves behind). They were fun reads, but I found myself wishing Jacky would stop behaving like an irrational teenager at times and that the chasing would end (how ironic - that's how I felt about the Twilight series at times!) It didn't - at least not in these two books. This series would be good for teenage girls.

Jody Lynn Nye:
An Unexpected Apprentice

I picked up this JV Fantasy book while browsing and liked the cover and backstory. I read it pretty quickly and rather enjoyed it, and though one can draw a lot of parallels between it and Lord of the Rings, it wasn't nearly so awful as The Sword of Shannara. It also includes some very unique elements, such as the 'Runes' and the perspective of the female protagonist from a very male-dominated culture. I would recommend this book to teenage girls.

Rickard Peck:
The River Between Us

I picked up this novel while browsing at the library. It is set at the beginning of the civil war, from the perspective of a girl whose mother decides to allow some interesting refugees to board with them. The novel includes some touching depictions of life as a girl in southern Illinois and the social conventions that existed there. It also addressees issues of racism, family loyalty, family secrets, and family history. Some of the text is gritty, but it fits. The ending surprised me! The book is marketed to the pre-teen age group, and I felt it was appropriate.


NONFICTION

I enjoy educational and entertaining non-fiction. I love learning about the world and people in it, but I don't really enjoy doing so if the reading lacks good writing or literary polish. I have found the best nonfiction books I enjoy are written by established fiction authors or playwrights who then turn to issues which are dear to them. As part of my experiment, I went out of my way to read a number of interesting nonfiction books recommended to me.

Richard Dawkins:
The Selfish Gene

This book was recommended to me by several acquaintances who knew I enjoy educational and entertaining non-fiction. I have to admit I found it very dry, dull, and even insulting - I couldn't get past chapter 3. This is likely because The Selfish Gene was originally published in 1976, and the science underlying it isn't exactly new or controversial anymore. What is left of a persuasion piece when everybody already believes your science? Only the tone. As author Brian Clegg wrote in his book Getting Science "Even a scientist who is good at communicating like Richard Dawkins can often suffer from what seems like arrogance when he shows his very obvious disdain for any views he regards as unscientific. You don't have to be religious, for instance, to find his attacks on belief irritating." Classy!

Robert Pirsig:
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence

This book is a rather heavy philosophy book, put in the setting of cross-country motorcycle trip. It purports to end the false split between a logical and intellectual 'rational view' of world, and the non-intellectual 'romantic' view of the world. He focuses on the definition of 'Quality' and determines it is impossible to define: though easy to know if something 'has it' or 'doesn't'. I will admit that it was a bit heavy for me, but still interesting. I could definitely see myself reading it again. Or, I might decide to go for the sequel, Lila: an Inquiry Into Morals.

Carl Sagan:
Pale Blue Dot

This was another non-fiction piece recommended along with The Selfish Gene. The book itself is full of pictures, explanations, and its own sense of wonder - it is amazing that it could be communicated so well by a physicist. While the premise behind Pale Blue Dot isn't exactly controversial, it's a timeless message that everybody could use: a call for cosmic perspective on our tiny world, and unity of humanity in preserving it and treating each other with dignity. The best part about Pale Blue Dot is that if you have ever heard Sagan speak you can hear him speaking the words in the book in clear, calm, and passionate tones. Sagan, like Dawkins, makes clear at many times that there is no proof (or necessity) of deity in the science underlying the history of the world and the study of astronomy as we know it. However, the bottom of that message does not come across rooted in disdain (as it does from Dawkins), but rather as a warning that relying on religion to save the planet or each other does not result in good stewardship nor wise planning. For those of you who have a tradition of reading stories with your families, I would recommend this book as bed-time reading for particularly curious boys and girls.

Jean M. Twenge:
Generation Me

Subtitled Why Today's Young Americans are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled - And More Miserable Than Ever Before, Generation Me is a book on self-esteem; or rather, a book on the results of the independence and self esteem movements of the last few decades. The book is terribly dry and was difficult to read, but I couldn't put it down for all that. And afterwards, I found myself seeing the claims of the book everywhere I went! Her claims are backed up by an impressive compilation of an array of sociological and psychological data showing that the way people think about themselves and their place in the world has changed fundamentally. It's got a number of really funny stories and statistics too, my favorite was the fact that more Gen Me's believe in aliens than believe social security will be there for them when they need it. Overall, I recommend this book to anybody interested in psychology or sociology.

That's it for today! Expect to see Part II of my book-reading resolution soon!